We can do a lot together

This is our youth empowerment innovation relying on ICT and mentorship to give space to young people in Karamoja to learn about SRH processes and services in their communities and become youth advocates.

Empowering Karamoja Youth

Youth in Karamoja are empowered to actively participate in their communities, advocate for youth related issues, and hold key duty bearers accountable for providing youth friendly SRH and HIV/AIDS services.

Objectives of the Karamoja Connect Program

  1. To empower and build the capacity of young people in the Karamoja region to be youth advocates for SRH related issues, with an emphasis on HIV.
  2. To provide a platform for young people to monitor youth related activities and adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) services in the Karamoja region.
  3. To collect and analyze rough data on the ASRH and HIV situation in Karamoja to be used for youth advocacy purposes on a district and national level.
  4. To provide a platform for youth champions and key duty bearers in ASRH and HIV to interact and to encourage conversation regarding the role of youth in the community.

 

How the Program Works

The program is implemented by Reach A Hand, Uganda (RAHU) with support from UNFPA Uganda. It comprises of three main components; youth empowerment, advocacy, and monitoring of SRH related issues in Karamoja.

Fourteen select youth from Karamoja are provided with information and the necessary skills to enable their empowerment to advocate for and monitor the provision of youth friendly SRH and HIV/AIDS services in the region. The selected young people act as youth advocacy champions through the Karamoja Connect program to hold key duty bearers accountable for the provision of youth friendly sexual and reproductive health services.

The youth champions in Karamoja are trained in basic ICT, advocacy and monitoring skills regarding the quality of youth friendly SRH services with an emphasis on access to HIV/AIDS services and information. Each youth leader is assigned to an outstanding member of the community who is involved in district affairs, SRH, and/or youth related activities to mentor them throughout the project.

Impact

  • Young people have been empowered
  • Advocacy
  • SRH related issues that have for long been ignored in Karamoja have finally reached the young people.