A campaign to re-integrate pregnant and given birth teenage girls into formal and informal schools in katakwi District.
Schools closed in Uganda on 21st March 2020 after Uganda had registered her first covid19 positive
case. After nearly two years of school closure, pre-primary, primary and secondary schools reopened
on 10 January 2022. It was all excitement for teachers, parents/caregivers and learners but to many
girls that got pregnant and gave birth during the lockdown their dreams are in balance since they lack
adequate support to re-enter school. Unfortunately, only 8% of the girls that drop out of school are
given a second chance to re-enroll (MoES, 2015). With the outbreak of the COVID -19 pandemic, this
situation has been made worse.
In many communities in Uganda teenage pregnancy is stigmatized and considered as immoral and a
disgrace to the family and society. Some religious leaders have also not spared the teenage pregnant
girls condemning them as immoral.
Various social norms and circumstances promote early marriages and pregnancies, and these need to
be addressed. In many settings, when a teenager gets pregnant, early marriage becomes her only
option. Further, there are misconceptions about the continuation of pregnant girls or re-entry of
adolescent mothers, notably that retention promotes promiscuity among young girls.
HDF embraced the challenge and mobilised resources to run a campaign to return these vulnerable
girls back in school through the various approaches that HDF has designed for this cause.
However, this cause requires a combined effort of everyone at both household and community level,
political and institutional level, among others. Join HDF in this cause.
