How UN Women is improving livelihoods of young people living with HIV/AIDS in Moroto

On Saturday 12th September 2020, the United Nations Resident Coordinator H.E Rosa Malango accompanied by the Private Secretary to the President of Uganda, Caroline Kembabazi and other United Nations delegates embarked on a four day mission to Karamoja Region. The aim of this mission was to monitor the implementation of the UN critical programs and Covid 19 responses and to engage with the youth on Sustainable Development Goals, find out the challenges they are facing and solutions they have come up with.

The Stories of Hope…

Sharon Adong, 24 left school when she was in her senior two due to lack of school fees resulting from her father’s death. She was left with a single mother who is disabled. Being the first child, Adong felt she needed to work in order to provide for her family. In 2017, Adong left her home in Dokolo district   to go and look for a job in Moroto so that she could be able to take care of her siblings.

“I left school in 2017 because my dad died. He was the one providing school fees. So I came to look for a job so that I can take care of my siblings. We are six children and I am the first born. My mother cannot take care of us because she is lame.”

A source of Relief

Several other girls just like Adong have gone through traumatic experiences at an early age. However, not all hope is gone for them. Karamoja Economic Empowerment Project (KEEP) which is supported by the UN Women and being implemented by Action Africa Help Uganda (AAH-U) is providing support to these girls under the Katikekile Youth Group. The Project has been in operation for five years now and is focused on omitting vulnerability of young women and girls aged 15-24 years to HIV through integrating reproductive health education in income and asset building.

The Katikekile Youth Group was started in 2017 and it comprises of 15 females and 3 males. The membership of the group includes young women living with HIV/AIDS, youth at risk of HIV, school dropouts and survivors of violence. The group received an enterprise development grant of 5,000,000 Uganda Shillings from the United Nations. Today, the group runs a sweater making business targeting both individual consumers and institutions of learning. In the wake of COVID 19, the youth group is currently making face masks for the local market. Other activities undertaken by the group include craft making and liquid soap processing.

Sister Winnie Tali, the coordinator of Katikekile Youth Group says that she went to villages and identified the most vulnerable youth, offered them spiritual and psycho social counseling due to the traumatic experiences the youth have gone through. After identifying the vulnerable youths, she reached out to Action Africa Help (AAH-U) which agreed to help. With support from the UNWomen, a United Nations entity for gender equality and empowerment of women, the group was given start up kits and machines which the youth are now using to make sweaters, uniforms, table clothes and bags.

“We offer these youth skills. We got a trainer to train them. They have zeal and they are very committed to what they are doing.”

Sitser Tali however noted that the they are facing a challenge of lack of a permanent space. ” Where we are operating now is the house of the diocese and they want to use the house. So, as a group, we have managed to get land but are now looking for funds to build a permanent facility for the girls.”

Acio Jennifer Francesca, the Head of Sub Office and Program Specialist of UN Women Moroto says that this project has helped these young  girls to improve their livelihood.

“I think its evident that these young girls have been able to cope up. First of all there is a stigma around living with HIV especially for the young person. So this program helps them to support each other by them being together. In addition, it has helped them to improve their livelihoods. Some of them gave birth at a very young age; 13, 14, but this program has helped them to develop skills of survival and they can be independent without looking for external support.”

Successes

When Adong reached Moroto, she started living with an aunt but still had no job. Unfortunately, Adong’s aunt passed on later, leaving her completely alone. When Sister Atai was taking in the vulnerable girls, Adong was also taken in.

She now makes bags out of beads using her own hands. She says that this project has helped her make something of her own and is able to sell and get some money. On the number of bags she makes in a day, she gives one to the group and the rest is hers to sell. The price of the bags is determined by the size. Adong takes the bags to the market but also takes orders from people around her.

For Adong, being part of this project has taught her to plan and to make and manage her finances independently. She is able to save some money in the group’s SACCO. However, Adong notes that sometimes she goes for a month without selling a single bag.

More Solutions

The UN Resident coordinator Rosa Malango appreciated the youth for what they are doing and promised to connect them to their fellow youth in Mbarara. She also urged the youth to showcase what they are doing on the One Million Youth SDG Solutions Challenge to attain more visibility. The overall objective of the One Million SDG Solutions from Youth in Uganda Innovation Challenge is to identify and mobilize Ugandan youth with solutions that are changing lives in order to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs.

Christine Kabazira, from Media Challenge accompanied the UN Resident Coordinator on her mission and published the article on her blog https://chriskabazira.wordpress.com/2020/09/17/how-unwomen-is-improving-livelihoods-of-young-people-living-with-hiv-aids-in-moroto/