Author: alphyjuma

By Peter Oliver Ochieng The United Nations (UN) in 2015 adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in what remains a universal call to action aimed at ending poverty, protecting the planet earth and ensuring that all human races enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030 –slightly less than nine years from now. According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) portal, the SDGs are designed with a view of ending poverty, hunger, AIDS and discrimination against women and girls. SDG number seven speaks on affordable and clean energy, which means that ensuring clean and cheap energy is not only vital, but…

The 28th of September is observed as the International Safe Abortion Day yet many young women continue to die due to unsafe abortions in Uganda. The figures are so alarming with an estimation of 297,000 induced abortions with nearly 85,000 receiving treatment for complications of unsafe abortions while about 65,000 of those who experience complications aren’t even able to access any treatment. Approximately one in five pregnancies in Uganda ends in an induced abortion which is very significant given the high incidence of unsafe abortions. Most young women are forced in to unsafe abortion because they are left with no choice…

By James Ochieng Kibera, like other slums in Africa, is facing dire challenges of sanitation. The large population in the informal settlement is a limiting factor to the development of a long-term solution to the proper disposal of human waste. The sight of overflowing pit latrines and sewer lines is a common phenomenon in this place. Rains makes the situation worse, especially for those who reside near the river beds. The bare earth streets are carved with gullies which makes it difficult for exhaust lorries to access the area to collect the human waste from the pit latrines. Poverty levels…

In counties bordering Lake Victoria, where elderly men see it as a weakness to have their wives accompany them to events, health care systems are working hard to change perceptions. Homa Bay is one of these counties. Slowly catching on in the county is an initiative where the man, his wife and children are encouraged to work as a team in seeking HIV medication. This has helped to improve HIV statistics in the region. Listed as one of the 10 counties that contribute to high HIV prevalence in the country and doing dismally to prevent transmission from pregnant women to…

By Kioko Nyamasyo If you visit South Kamagambo Sub County you will see one of the most beautiful sceneries in the country. The area is covered with sprawling green fields of sugarcane with some small patches of maize farms. In one of the feeder roads, we meet two young men trying to pull a stuck oxen cart. “In the past we could never get stuck, the roads were always maintained. They were maintained by sugar factories who would come with their lorries daily to carry sugarcane,” Robert Ochwang’i, one of the men, explains. The shutting down of some of the…

By Peter Oliver Ochieng In 2015, the Uwezo (ability) Kenya national assessment enumeration area report ranked Bungoma, Tana River and Turkana among the bottom 10 Counties in Kenya with low learning outcomes in literacy and numeracy. This probably indicates that there is ‘too much schooling yet very little learning’ as hundreds, if not thousands of children across the country attend school but fail to acquire the basics in literacy and numeracy. As such, the ZiziAfrique Foundation in partnership with other organizations among them Safaricom, in 2019 piloted a project known as the accelerated learning program aimed at ensuring that learners…

The small village of Nyarufuzo which overlooks Nyabarongo river swamp in Mageragere sector of Nyarugenge District used to be overcome with fear. This fear was a result of crocodiles that were killing residents who would be collecting water in the river. Four men and a woman named Flavia, their lives were taken through similar circumstances by the crocodiles at the bottom of the river. The incidences reached their climax during the dry season of 2014. “I was thirsty and needed to cook food for my children, but I could not send anyone to fetch me water from that crocodile-infested river…

By Mercy Ahimbisibwe Daniel Otunge, the Deputy Executive Director of Science Africa, has appreciated its partners who have made it possible for Uganda to host the second Solutions Journalism workshop in 2020. Solutions Journalism should be integrated with covid19 reporting so that people appreciate what is going on in the communities. He said this at a two-day training that targeted Kampala and Rural Based Journalists that attended through zoom. Ester Nakkazi the founder of Health Journalism Network in Uganda said Solutions Journalism will help to reduce vaccination misinformation. “We have identified top scientists in Uganda who will share all the…

By Hasifah Namuli The high and persistent school dropout rates in Uganda continue to worry education experts wondering how they will meet the set targets of keeping children enrolled in school right from the start to the finishing line. Although 90 percent of children attend primary school, that drops below 25 percent in secondary school due to facility shortages. Now this disparity continues to contribute to the very high prevalence rates of poverty and low literacy levels amongst Ugandans as those without a secondary education have lower chances of pursuing careers. The Education commissioner in charge of special need at…

BY KIGEZI NEWS AGENCY TEAM KAMPALA: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2021 The Africa Health Solutions Journalism Initiative (AHSJI) has committed to train more Ugandan journalists to blend solutions journalism with investigative reporting of health. Daniel Otunge, the project lead at AHSJI made the disclosure to health journalists during a two-day training that ended at Fareway hotel in Kampala on Tuesday. Other upcountry journalists followed via a video link the training that focused on preparing the journalists to use Solutions Journalism approach for reporting Covid-19. Based in Nairobi, Kenya, AHSJI’s objectives are to build the capacity of health journalists, editors and educators…