Uganda

Pathfinder’s work in Uganda dates back to 1957, when our founder’s “Pathfinder Fund” provided seed money to form the Family Planning Association of Uganda and establish clinical reproductive health services in several centers in Kampala.

Since that time, and throughout the country’s 20-year civil war, Pathfinder remained committed to expanding access to critical sexual and reproductive health services. Today, we continue this work in Northern Uganda.

In an area plagued by instability, high HIV and AIDS prevalence, and lack of access to contraceptives—despite high demand—we reach some of the country’s most neglected populations, including internally displaced refugees, women, and youth.

Through one project, women and couples in 11 post-conflict districts can access anti-retroviral therapy, choose a method of contraception, and learn how protect their children from HIV—an integrated package of services.

Through another project, Pathfinder and our partners are empowering families to meet their health needs and sustainably manage natural resources on which they depend.

Why Pathfinder Works in Uganda

Uganda is a country that has been plagued by political instability, high HIV and AIDS prevalence, and a lack of access to contraceptives-despite high demand. The total fertility rate in Uganda is 6.7, which is the second highest in the world. The high rate of unmet need for contraceptives (41 percent), combined with Uganda's increasing rate of population growth (3.4 percent), continues to hinder economic development, deepen poverty, and detract from the achievements that have been made in the social sector.

Pathfinder first began to work in Uganda in the late 1950s, when it helped to establish the Family Planning Association of Uganda (now known as Reproductive Health Uganda). Throughout the ongoing 20-year civil war and the changing, and often challenging, political climate, Pathfinder programs strived to ensure quality family planning assistance to those in need.

Today, Pathfinder's programs address a wide range of issues, including the lack of availability of services in post-conflict settings, the limited capacity of district health services and local community-based organizations to deliver services, the intersection of population growth, health needs and the environment, as well as youth and adolescent sexual and reproductive health. Through these programs, Pathfinder has reached some of the country's most underserved populations, including internally displaced refugees, women, youth, and the fishing communities on Lakes Victoria, Edward, and George.

Evidence for Decision-Making

A key aspect of Pathfinder's approach to systems' strengthening is collecting evidence that enables public, private, and community partners to make informed health-related decisions. In Uganda, examples of the kinds of evidence we collect to range from the "percentage of HIV-positive women seen at clinics who report unmet need for family planning services" and the "number of children under 5 years of age who received vitamin A supplements" to the "number of targeted health units offering youth-friendly services in the area of reproductive health and family planning." Some illustrative data in Uganda suggests that, in a one-year period, Pathfinder projects achieved the following results:

• 10,484 clients received antenatal care and malaria prevention services from a project-affiliated private sector service provider.
• 1,687 new adopters of family planning
• 27,370 HIV-positive women received HIV services that provided family planning.

Building Capacity, Strengthening Systems

Pathfinder is a leader in community engagement and capacity building for family planning and reproductive health in Uganda. Pathfinder's community approach supports village health teams in their family planning outreach efforts, while continuing to equip selected health facilities with basic equipment that would otherwise not be available for service delivery.

Through the Ministry of Health and district health offices, Pathfinder has trained various cadres of the health service sector, from the community to the national level. Pathfinder has also trained trainers for health workers, peer educators, and village health teams on family planning, adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health, HIV and AIDS integration, and child survival services. The trainers play a supervisory role to the trained groups and keep orienting the members that need support in terms of knowledge updates. Pathfinder is also promoting the use of data to improve evidence of effective programming by training health facility records officers/assistants, in charges and district records officers and biostatisticians in data collection, recording, verification, storage, and strategic use. To follow up and ensure quality after these trainings, Pathfinder provides supervision and on-the-job mentorship as key components of our comprehensive systems' strengthening approach.

As a result of our community training experience in Uganda, Pathfinder has taken a central role in chairing review sessions of the village health teams' national curriculum and is a member of a coalition to advocate for increased family planning commodities and supplies, on behalf of the Ministry of Health and major family planning donors.