From 9th – 13th May 2022, Uganda Youth and Adolescent Health Forum (UYAHF) joined other “SheSOAR” project partners including Restless Development, Naguru Teenage Centre, and Reach out Mbuya for a one-week orientation workshop for them to fully get acquainted and familiarize themselves with the project to inform its implementation.
The one-week workshop held at Bugolobi was organized and facilitated by CARE international Uganda who is the donor of the project.
The workshop kicked off with a presentation of the program overview facilitated by the Program Manager, Mrs. Musubika Winnie, who said that the SheSOARS is a seven-year project funded by CARE Uganda, under CARE International, and the project seeks to support the Ministry of Health Uganda to improve access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services for out-of-school adolescents in rural communities.
She added that the project will engage adolescent girls and young women, men and boys, community leaders and norm-setters to understand and transform discriminatory social norms through awareness-raising, provide economic empowerment and establish demand creation for essential sexual reproductive health and rights in both host and refugee populations, under the notion of leaving no adolescent behind.
UYAHF will work with other partners, including Restless Development, Centre for Reproductive Rights, Naguru Teenage Centre, and Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, and the implementation will be done in Kampala, Terergo, Arua, and Madi Okollo.
The interactive workshop involved discussions around reporting, performance quality measurement, partnership support, and work plan development, among others.
During the training, the Monitoring and Evaluation officer for CARE, Ms. Teddy, emphasized the aspects of performance quality measurements such as gender equality and inclusion (60% women and girls and 40% boys), equal participation of all groups to address equity and fairness, and meaningful decision making, which she noted should be clearly reflected in the work plans.
“Feedback and accountability mechanisms should be put in place, do no harm, prevention of Sexual Harassment among the people we serve (PSHEA), Partnership support, Relevance, and Coherence with SDGs, Climate and Environment Responsibility, for example, mind about disposal processes to minimize harm on the environment like condom use, Sustainable impact at scale, Learning and adaption, Effectiveness and Efficiency; resource utilization is critical in budget usage
Some of the main measures suggested by the SheSOAR project finance manager include: partners submitting monthly reports on the 5th of each month, along with scans of supporting documentation, Clear policies for all employees, risk assessments, and job separation Ensure that the activity request checklist and Activity Implementation codes are followed.
He also urged partners to create a strong advocacy pathway that would reach out to a variety of sectors, such as religious and cultural denominations, the government, and schools, among others.
Breakaway group sessions characterized the workshop, where participants discussed and shared ideas, goals, and tactics for bettering the project’s implementation.
Finally, all partners were required to complete PSEA training, submit their quarterly work plans for the project to CARE for certification and submit their quarterly work plans for the project to help drive the financing plan.
