By Frank Kamuntu
According to a report issued by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), Acholi is one of the sub-regions in Northern Uganda with a total population of 1,500,762 people resulting from the impact of the LRA war, being the epicenter of LRA activities and abductions.
According to the secretary to the Commission Dr Nasser Shaft Mukwaya through the Ag Head of Legal Services and Investigations Department Mr Kakooza Savio Ntensibe, the Commission identified with concern the gender disparities and inequities permeate various aspects of daily life, affecting individuals, families, and communities alike in Acholi sub-region.
From economic opportunities to access to education, healthcare, and decision-making power, women and marginalized groups in the Acholi sub-region often find themselves on the margins of progress, constrained by deeply ingrained societal norms and systemic barriers.
The issues in the sub-region are insightfully discussed below;
- Education
The Commission noted the following Gender and Equity issues regarding Education.
i. Acholi sub-region has very high illiteracy rates with 40 percent of all persons in the region being illiterate.
ii. Primary School net enrolment in Acholi subregion is lower at 80% than other regions like Kampala at 96.9% with a gender parity of 1.08 in favour of boys (UNHS 2019/20).
iii. Availability of Government Primary schools within LC1 is also low at only 42.6% with the majority of the children moving long distances of up to 3km to access a Government Primary school.
iv. High levels of violence, child labour, lack of parental and community involvement which has discouraged children from attending school.
v. Primary school net enrollment in Acholi is very lower at 80 percent compared to other sub- regions like Kampala at 96.9 percent with a gender parity of 1.08 in favor of boys (UNHS 2019/20)
vi. Availability of Government primary schools within the LC1 is also low at only 42.6 percent with majority of the children moving long distances of up to 3km to access a Government primary school.
vii. Acholi has the lowest secondary school net enrollment in the country at only 7 percent and the lowest female enrollment at 7.6 percent (UNHS 2019/20)
viii. Availability of Government secondary schools within the LC1 is very low with 49.2 percent of students moving more than long 5km to access a Government secondary school.
2. Student’s Loan Scheme
There are noticeable disparities in the proportions of students benefitting from the Students Loans scheme established by the Government of Uganda. In terms of the student’s loan scheme Acholi is among the least sub-regions in terms of proportion of students accessing the University Students Loan Scheme.
Northern region had the least number of student beneficiaries at 12.5%. if the objective of ensuring gender equity and regional balance is to be achieved, then offering loans to students should not be only a question of performance. Considering regions especially those that have been most affected by conflict should continue to be a suitable criterion as has been exihibited in the past two years.
3. On Health;
i. The commission noted with concern that access to healthcare in the Acholi sub-region is among the poorest in the country with over 34% of the people in Acholi region travelling a distance of up to 5km to access healthcare when they fall sick (UNHS 2016/17).
ii. Acholi subregion region has one regional referral hospital serving a population of more than 1.5 million which is above what a regional referral hospital is supposed to serve. The health facilities in the region continue to face the challenge of low staff-to-patient ratio, high level of work load and lack of essential medicines in the facilities.
iii. The HIV/AIDS PREVALANCE scourge is yet another challenge that requires skills for intervention. The Sub-region has a prevalence of 8.2% with Gulu District being the highest with 10.2%. The highest infection rate is prevalent women between 20-29 years.
iv. Generally, the TEENAGE PREGNANCY RATE in the sub-region is the lowest in the country because cultural norms and traditions play a significant role in shaping various aspects of community life, including attitudes towards sexuality, relationships, and family dynamics. It is however important to note during the
2020/2021 Covid Lockdown, the teenage pregnancy shoot up with 33 girls getting pregnant daily. By the second month of lock down, 4000 teenage pregnancies were registered.
v. There is lack of sign language interpreters at all health facilities
vi. Over 34% of the persons in Acholi travel a distance of at least 5 kilometers to access health acre when they are sick (UNHS 2016/17)
vii. The region has 299 health facilities, with more half (60%) of which are HCIIIs, 26 are HC IIIs, 7% are general hospitals and 1 Regional Referral Hospital (MOH 2017).
viii. Health facilities in the region also continue to face challenges including low staff-to-patient ratio, a high-level of workload, lack of essential medicines and equipment, salaries and delayed payment of staff among others.
ix. Maternal Mortality Rate stands at 368/100,000 live births, under-five mortality rate remains high at 69 deaths, Infants Mortality Rate (IMR) at 48 deaths per 1,000 live births while the child mortality rate is slightly lower at 22 deaths per 1,000 live births (UDHS 2016/17)
x. Undernutrition remains a challenge in the region
xi. Over 3000 children have been affected by Nodding disease in northern Uganda, with an estimated case fatality of 6.7%
xii. Modern contraceptives Prevalence rate stands at 19.3-30.4% with only 100,000 family planning users registered in health facilities, 2018 (MOH 2018; UDHS 2016).
xiii. Despite progress made nationally 25.5 percent of the population in Acholi do not have access to safe water sources. Majority of the Acholi population move up to 3km to access an improved water source
xiv. Similarly, 25.5 percent of the population in Acholi do not have access to improved toilets facilities and continue practicing open defecation
xv. Additionally, 92 percent of households in Acholi do not have hand-washing facilities
Policy Recommendations
i. To address the high poverty levels in the region, there is need to modernize agriculture, mobilize communities in farmer groups, increase value addition and mind set change
ii. Widen the market base for locally produce products and ensure safety of people and persons during cross-border trade
iii. A critical mass of youth requires employment to increase their incomes and better their standards of living. There is therefore need for policies targeting vocational training for skills development, which will provide them with better job opportunities
iv. There is need for land reforms that would enhance land access and security of tenure, while respecting the traditional socio-cultural norms with respect to communal ownership of land. This will encourage productive investments in, and use of land
v. There is urgent need to mobilize the region for increased uptake of sexual and reproductive health services including use of modern contraception to delay on set of child bearing and spacing of births
vi. Eliminate economic, social and geographic obstacles to education especially girls’ access to secondary and higher education
vii. It is essential to address risk factors at school and in communities in order to improve the low transition rate from primary to secondary school
viii. Building employable skills for women in socio-economic entrepreneurship would support economic growth, also increasing revenue collection
ix. There is need to address the challenges in the return and reintegration process and ongoing displacement
x. There is need for the region to address the oil exploration-related land grabbing and sales and the animal-human conflict and clashes with UWA especially in Nwoya district
xi. Connectivity, road design and non-motorized transport concepts should also be major aspects to be considered for large scale development projects
xii. There is need for a combination of policies, actions and physical plans to address the current challenges in accessing basic infrastructure services
xiii. The region needs concerted efforts to address Sexual and Gender Based Violence and shifting gender power relations.
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