YOUNG PEOPLE IN LOCKDOWN; A case of Increasing Teenage Pregnancies and School drop outs in Uganda.

A youth is anyone between the age of one year to 30 years of age according to the ugandan constitution. 78% of the ugandan population is under 30 years with at least 8 million people between the age of 15 -30 years. Making Uganda the youngest population in the world.

The coming of the corona virus pandemic has brought alot of changes to the welfare and general living of people all over the world. One of the major changes has been lockdown as most nations in the world imposed association restrictions such as lockdowns which included closure of schools and placing curfew hours.

Uganda was not an exception. Ever since the president of Uganda H. E Yoweri Museveni placed a lockdown on Uganda in March 2020, several changes included closure of schools. This has been a nail biting struggle for many youth.

The first phase of lockdown was hard on Busoga areas and kitgum as many school age going girls lost the battle to pregnancy. This was noted on the drop In levels of children who went back to school as the schools were reopened in phases.

During the second phase of lockdown the numbers of girls getting pregnant shot up rapidly in the country. It was noted on 13th June 2021 on the NTV panaroma show over 17000 girls in northern uganda got pregnant and according to a study by UNICEF, 25% of girls in Uganda got pregnant that means 25 In every 100 girls got pregnant.

When the second phase was announced, NBS ran a series of stories where Namayumba in wakiso was grappling with increasing cases of teenage pregnancy, in kasese young girls as young as 15 were having sex in exchange for sanitary pads, in Amudat girls as young as10 years were being sold into marriage and on 10 June 2021 it was noted that 36% of the girls in Kapelebyony district under the age of 18years were getting pregnant.

In Kikube and Hoima districts and the entire Bunyoro region there was a noted drop in the number of girls that sat for the just concluded PLE exams because they were either married off or pregnant.

Their male counterparts had either turned into agricultural products vendors or were seen engaging in gambling which has put the future generation at a risk of being wasted.
Despite increasing challenges a few interested parties have tried to get involved in curbing the vice of teenage pregnancy and droping out of school going teenagers.

In Bunyoro Kangabaije a local advocacy group spearheaded by the RDC of kikuube district Mr Tumusiime Amulan deputised by former mayoral aspirant Ali Babi had teamed up with other stakeholders with funding from Action Against Hunger to try and create awareness in areas of kikuube and hoima and keep teenagers in school in rwenzori region.

This team is intervening through radio talkshows, advocacy among parents and online movements. But they have been greatly affected by financial and logistical constraints.

The youth Baraza is also engaging in activism through civic mobilisation and sensistization of members and the community to see to it that the vice has been weakend

If we all joined hands to fight this cause, it would curb the vice of teenage pregnancy and dropping out of school by school going children.
For God and my country.

Onzima Byaruhanga Ronnie araali
Concerned citizen.

This publication does not consist of views of the Youth Baraza but of the particular author. The Youth Baraza strives to project all voices of its members.