Empowering women to choose the number, timing, and spacing of their pregnancies is not only a matter of health and human rights but also touches on many multisectoral determinants vital to sustainable development, including women’s education and status in society. Without universal access to family planning and reproductive health, the impact and effectiveness of other interventions will be less, will cost more, and will take longer to achieve. The government of Uganda must make modern family planning an even higher priority to expand women’s method choice and uptake.

A multi-year initiative (2014-2017) to improve and scale up youth-friendly health services and enhance quality of care for young people is being conducted by UNFPA ESARO and the IPPF Africa Regional Office. The initiative includes the development and approval of the research protocol and a review of existing youth-friendly health service (YFHS) guidelines and standards, and assessment of their implementation in 23 countries within the East and Southern Africa (ESA) region.

UNFPA is the United Nations agency which leads global efforts to help ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.

In the next 30 years, Uganda envisions a transformation from a peasant to a modern and prosperous society, with a per capita GDP of USD 9,500 by 2040 as detailed in ision 2040. Vision 2040 also acknowledges that the only single factor that will stop Uganda from attaining middle income status is the population growth rate, characterized by a young age structure and consequent high child dependency burden. Uganda has therefore pronounced itself onharnessing the demographic dividend, as a key strategy to achieving Vision 2040.

The Social and Financial Skills Package (SFSP) contains 15 modules. It aims at empowering adolescent girls through weekly sessions that are conducted by social mobilizers and facilitators over a period of nine months. In collaboration with the Department of Women and Children, UNFPA is supporting this life skills training, locally called “Rupantaran” (transformation).