World Contraceptive Day(WCD) 2021 Webinar

Theme: “Increasing access and utilization of contraceptive methods among Adolescents, a situation of the new normal.”

Introduction

Every woman has a right and deserves an opportunity to make a choice on how many children they want to have and when they want to have them. World Contraception Day, observed on 26th September every year, is annual global campaign to improve awareness about contraception. This campaign aims to raise awareness about birth control methods available to a woman and her partner to enable them to make an informed decision regarding their reproductive health. This global campaign pushes for better education related to safe and protected sex so that no pregnancy is unplanned or unwanted.
The Covid – 19 pandemic has disrupted the general way of life and created a new normal across the Globe. In Uganda, education institutions, businesses, places of worship and many others have been closed. In the process, majority of young people have lost their access to education, become unemployed and lost income. The increased stay-at-home time has increased the need for contraceptive information and service among young people, more than ever. Uganda is still one of the countries with a big gap of the unmet need for family planning and the new normal has worked to further widen this gap. It is the responsibility and the commitment of the government of Uganda as well as Implementing partners to address the increased unmet need for contraceptive care.

The Research

A research conducted by Makerere School of Public Health in collaboration with Guttmacher Institute and Public Health Ambassadors Uganda entitled “Access to Contraceptive services among Adolescents in Uganda during the Covid 19 Pandemic” reveals that there was a disruption of access to contraceptive services among young people during the first two months of total lockdown (April and May 2020). However, the research goes on to reveal improved and steady access and utilization of contraceptive methods among young people for the rest of the year. The research further highlights an increased demand for contraceptive services by young people during the Pandemic.

Way Forward

Consolidating efforts among service provision players is key to improving and increasing access and utilization of contraceptive information and services among young people in this new normal. It is against this background that Public Health Ambassadors Uganda (PHAU) with support from United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA Uganda) has organized a webinar on the 30th September 2021 that seeks to bring together different implementing partners to share their work (efforts) around increasing access and utilization of contraceptive care among young people.

Main Objective

To provide a platform that consolidates efforts of implementing partners towards increasing access and utilization of contraceptive care among young people in the new normal through sharing strategies, experiences and lessons learnt.