Enhancing Integration of Adolescent Family Planning and Post-Abortion Care in Northern Uganda: A Citizen Science, Gender-Transformative Approach

Northern Uganda has a teenage pregnancy rate exceeding the national average. This project aims to improve access to and use of sexual and reproductive health services by adolescents and other underserved population groups in Lira, Northern Uganda, through integrated Comprehensive Adolescent Friendly Family Planning-Post Abortion Care (CAFFP-PAC) using a citizen-science, gender-transformative approach. CAFFP-PAC is a package of evidence-based interventions incorporated in the Uganda National Adolescent Health Strategy and Adolescent Health Service Standards. However, the top-down approach overlooks contextual realities. This project involves adolescents, parents/caregivers, health-care providers and community leaders in co-designing and implementing interventions to foster ownership and sustainability.

The project will assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices, and identify barriers and facilitators, to family planning and post-abortion care services, emphasizing gender and intersectional inequities (including race, ethic identity, geographic isolation, sexual preference and other factors interacting to increase inequality). It will co-design and implement CAFFP-PAC and then evaluate and disseminate lessons learned. The project seeks to contribute to adolescents’ empowerment, reduced gender inequities and reduced teenage pregnancy and unsafe abortions in Northern Uganda.

This project is supported by the Addressing Neglected Areas of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Sub-Saharan Africa initiative funded by IDRC, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Global Affairs Canada. Its primary objective is to support greater realization of critical sexual and reproductive health and rights by underserved populations in Africa.