KAMPALA, Uganda— Uganda will join the rest of the world to celebrate the international population day this year in an event that will be hosted in Omoro District in July 11th 2018.
This was disclosed by the Director General of National Population Council Dr. Jotham Musinguzi during corporate social breakfast meeting for population partners where the council was also launching the World Population day activities at the Kampala Sheraton Hotel.
The theme for this year’s world population day is: “Leaving Nobody Behind: Improving service Delivery and Accountability” and the chief guest is expected to be the president of Uganda Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
Musinguzi noted that although Uganda will be joining the rest of the world to celebrate the day, the country is still doing badly when it comes to access to health services especially those that relate to reproductive health and that this has contributed to early pregnancy among the youth.
“As the country joins the rest of the world to celebrate the population day, we need to inject more resources in reproductive health if the country is to have a better generation in the future because the current situation is alarming especially in Northern Uganda where reproductive health services are still very limited, “He explained.
He added that Uganda’s population is predominantly young with 76% below the age of 30 years and the country must capitalize on the youthful population in order to achieve sustainable social and economic development.
Musinguzi advised government to focus more on strategic investments in education and health alongside economic reforms to stimulate innovative productivity to increase the purchasing power of the population.
The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Oulanya said parliament is committed to ensuring that Ugandans have access to basic health services across the country.
Speaking at the same event, Omoro District Local Council Five Chairperson, Peter Okello said: Omoro district has the highest rate of early pregnancy in the whole of Northern Uganda which stands at 28%.
He attributed the burden on the war and cultural norms that force many younger girls from the district into early marriage.
“Traditional norms are a big challenge in the district. Many parents marry off their daughters at a young age because a girl child is considered as a source of income to the parents. Sometimes a girl child marries off at a young age because they are looking for survival “He added.
According to information available from the population council many activities are going to take place during the celebration and include: Provisions of assorted education materials and support to most at need schools in the host district , reproductive health clinic camps in the host district among other activities.
These activities and others will be implemented at both national and local levels as way to address the challenge of teenage pregnancy in Uganda.
