Energy and Excitement in Uganda

These are exciting times for us in Uganda. 

Since President Museveni spoke about the benefits of family planning at their National Family Planning Conference in July 2014, the atmosphere and the energy among advocates have changed. 

In the official opening speech of the conference, the President of Uganda His Excellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni said that the biggest problem for family planning has been those who confuse family planning with population control. 

He went on to explain how some countries like Britain and China have managed to realize economic growth and development with increasing populations. He said that the emphasis should be on integration, where by family planning is promoted hand-in-hand with socio-economic development. 

Regarding religious opposition within the country towards modern contraception, he said “let those religious leaders first come and show me that they have 50 children whom they have educated well and are all employed; only then they can preach to me that family planning is against God’s will.” 

The President went on to talk about the benefits of family planning to maternal health, to children’s wellbeing, to families’ economic survival, and to the country as a whole by upgrading the quality of lives of its citizens. 

Following this speech and in support of the one he gave at the London Summit on Family Planning in 2012, the Government of Uganda has been working diligently with multilateral and bilateral donor partners and civil society groups on improving family planning services. 

They are now working to finalize the creation of a “costed implementation plan” that provides a roadmap for strategies, policy recommendations, and needed budgets to reach its FP2020 goals. Many stakeholders were consulted for this plan, including frontline health workers working in the villages.

This afternoon, my colleagues and I had an opportunity to sit in on one of the many costed implementation plan consultative meetings with other NGO partners. The atmosphere was intense but collaborative, and the deep dedication of all in the room was palpable. 

The meeting began early in the morning and discussions went on long past 5pm on a Friday evening. 

The plan is scheduled to be officially released in late November and communicated across the country. 

As we participated in heated discussions throughout the day on how to make the document the best it can be, Dr. Zainab Akol, the principal medical officer in charge of family planning at the Ministry of Health, spoke about the importance of linking family planning to broader development objectives, and making sure that even ministries and agencies not dealing directly with health and demographic issues be part of the effort. 

As history shows, political leadership is THE critical element of success in the countries around the world whose governments have strengthened family planning programs, through public and private sector collaboration and coordination, with the aim of improving family health. 

We look forward to being part of Uganda’s progress towards a healthy, well-educated and prosperous nation whose citizens are able to protect its vast wealth of natural resources for generations to come. 

Sono Aibe

Sono Aibe is Pathfinder International's Senior Advisor for Strategic Initiatives.

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