UK, UNFPA launch family planning programme in Uganda
by Karim Muyobo, 23 July 2025
Image: Philip Smith, Development Director at the British High Commission, and Gift Malunga, UNFPA Uganda Country Representative, sign a strategic partnership to launch the EMPOWER Programme, which aims to strengthen the private sector’s capacity to deliver high-quality family
planning services.
Residents of Mukono and Wakiso districts are set to benefit from a Shs3 billion (£785,220) family planning initiative funded by the United Kingdom government in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
The nine-month program aims to strengthen Uganda’s healthcare system by delivering effective, efficient, equitable, and sustainable family planning services particularly targeting high-burden and hard-to-reach populations.
The initiative comes at a time when access to quality family planning services remain a significant challenge in Uganda. A report released last year by Makere University School of Public Health revealed that only 5 per cent of sampled health facilities met the minimum standards for providing comprehensive family planning services to women.
Speaking during the partnership signing ceremony, Ms Gift Malunga, UNFPA Country Representative, said “This contribution comes at a critical time. It will help unlock the potential of Uganda’s private sector to deliver high quality, client-centred family planning services ensuring that no woman is left behind.. The program is expected to bolster health infrastructure, improve service delivery, and extend outreach to under-served communities, ultimately advancing reproductive health outcomes and promoting gender equality….More than 500 health workers from at least 250 private clinics, pharmacies and drug shops will be trained to deliver comprehensive family planning services… and AI powered chatbots to improve information access and client engagement.”
SOURCE: Monitor, 23 July 2025. PHOTO/Karim Muyobo
+ + +
Time to rethink Uganda’s abortion laws! Ugandans must end silence around abortion
Image: Yoweri Museveni
Discussions about illegal abortions have been dominant on social media, within various social groups, in offices, and among civil society organisations (CSOs) focused on sexual and reproductive health. The conversations were sparked by a story entitled “Merchants of abortion” published by the Daily Monitor on July 7, 2025, that gained significant traction online.
For advocates of reproductive health, this situation was a sobering reminder that these issues cannot be ignored. Many CSOs have since held press conferences to address these concerns and discuss how to prevent illegal abortions and the associated unwanted deaths. The author of this article says: We should reflect on why, in this day and age of empowerment, we still face such challenges and consider how we can improve the situation moving forward.
Here is one reason: Yoweri Museveni (born 1944) announced this week he planned to stand for office for the tenth time. He has been Uganda’s president since 1986. It is he who has consistently refused to allow any consideration of legal abortion on any grounds.
SOURCE: PML Daily, by Elias Biryabarema, 21 July 2025. PHOTO by Abubaker Lubowa, Reuters 5 June 2025.