The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has injected over UGX 68.2 million into empowering teenage mothers and young women in Luuka district, providing vocational skilling tools as part of a broader call to address alarming rates of teenage pregnancy and early marriages.
One hundred young mothers from Bukanga, Bulongo, Bukooma, and Bugaya sub-counties are set to benefit from knitting and sewing tools and kits, aimed at equipping them with practical skills for self-reliance.
The handover, held recently at Bulongo sub-county, underscores a critical intervention in a region grappling with a significant social and economic burden.
Health records in Luuka district paint a grim picture, indicating that 2,383 teenage mothers attended Ante Natal Clinics (ANC), with a concerning 29 of them aged between just 12 and 15 years. These statistics highlight the urgency of addressing the root causes and consequences of early pregnancies.
Isaac Waboda, the Bulongo Sub-County Community Development Officer, expressed grave concern over the situation. “We have a time bomb of teenage mothers, unplanned pregnancies, and babies with a bleak future,” Waboda stated during the handover.
He noted that most of these teenage mothers are primary school dropouts who remain single mothers, requiring extensive counselling, guidance, and support.
Waboda emphasized that support from development partners like KOICA is vital. “When development partners come to the rescue like KOICA is doing, it gets a long way to securing the future of these innocent children and boosts the self-esteem of the teenage mothers, waking them up to responsibility and productivity.”
He further regretted the prevalent blaming and stigmatization directed at these girls and their parents, advocating for a more “solution-driven approach” that empowers young people and their communities.
“There is a need for more engagement of community structures including parents and leaders to address social norm change. Teenage pregnancies are ‘normalized’ in societies, it requires the involvement and participation of all relevant stakeholders to tackle it,” he rallied.
Vincent Njeho, a Program Officer for the KOICA Project, urged the beneficiaries to seize this opportunity to advance, earn, and progress, while importantly, living responsibly to avoid a repeat of past challenges.
“KOICA is helping you recover, restore hope, build solid confidence, and make you productive enough to support your children and better yourselves,” Njeho encouraged the young mothers.
Njeho lamented the social acceptance of child marriage and teenage pregnancies in the Busoga region, stressing that current interventions are insufficient in addressing the Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) needs of sexually active young people.
He highlighted the critical need for open conversations about contraceptives and access to them to prevent unplanned pregnancies.
On behalf of the beneficiaries, Sanyu Rahma Nampiina delivered a heartfelt appeal for continued action and support for young women and girls.
She called for efforts to ensure their meaningful engagement in public life, to end unintended teenage pregnancies, and to empower adolescents to make healthier choices that ultimately prevent child marriages.
Nampiina expressed profound gratitude to KOICA and Plan International for their timely intervention, which she credited with pulling the young mothers “out of stigma, neglect, and ridicule.”
“To now improved health, social acceptance, a better productive state that many of them are comfortable getting back to school and proudly looking after their children,” she revealed.
“KOICA is our parent; it understood our pain and became part of our struggle to regain both our identities, dignities, and esteem. With the practical skills imparted to us, we are now in a position to support ourselves and children, let alone live a happier life,” Nampiina concluded, highlighting the transformative impact of the initiative.
