THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA
SPEECH
BY
THE GUEST OF HONOUR
WORLD POPULATION DAY NATIONAL CELEBRATIONS
DUHAGA SSS, HOIMA DISTRICT
11TH JULY 2012
Honourable Ministers
Members of Parliament
The Director, Population Secretariat
The UNFPA Country Representative
Representatives of Development Partners
District leaders
Cultural and Religious leaders
Members of the Media
Invited guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen
It gives me great pleasure to officiate at this very important occasion of
commemorating the 2012 World Population Day here in Hoima district.
On behalf of the government of Uganda, and on my own behalf, I wish to
extend my appreciation to the Population Secretariat and the UNFPA as well as
other development partners, for their efforts in advocating for and emphasizing
the benefits of a quality population for Uganda. Thank you for supporting and
drawing government’s attention to pertinent population-related concerns.
As Uganda marks this year’s World Population day under the theme: “Make
Access to Reproductive Health apriority: Address key Challenges,” we should
explore how to improve access to these services for our people.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am informed that in many parts of the country, including Hoima district, our
people are grappling with lack of access to RH services. This situation has been
compounded by the high teenage pregnancies. Addressing these issues
requires collective effort of each one of us present here today and not only
government. This is largely because we have a limited resource envelop and
very many competing needs.
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My government is putting emphasis on addressing shortfalls in the staffing levels
in government Health centres countrywide. This is one of our priority areas in the
new financial year. To start with, we are going to address the remuneration of
health workers. This will address the challenge of the negative attitude towards
our pregnant others, overloading our medical personnel and generally, the
brain drain in the health sector.
As the year 2015 draws nearer, we need to take stock of how far we have
progressed in achieving the Millennium Development Goals particularly those
focusing on maternal and infant health. Many commitments and efforts have
been taken although several challenges remain. The high maternal and infant
mortality remain a serious threat to the country’s progress in population and
development issues. We cannot sit back and watch as our mothers and their
newly-born babies die from preventable causes.
No woman should die while giving life. Mothers should be supported to space
their children by two to three years. This will help the children grow well and also
keep mothers healthy and economically productive instead of spending a lot of
time in the labour ward.
Over the next five years, we are going to focus on ensuring access to
Reproductive Health services. Currently, over 90% of the Reproductive Health
commodities are provided by donors. We are going to address this shortfall. By
increasing funding to ensure that contraceptives get to those who need them.
However, we should be cautious as we do this so that the contraceptives are
not abused by the young people.
I would also like to take this opportunity to pledge that expenditure in the health
sector will increase starting in the 2013/2014 financial year. It is the only way the
country will be able to address the high infant and maternal mortality coupled
with a shortage in supply of reproductive health commodity supplies. Currently
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government expenditure on health accounts for about 10% which falls short of
the 15% agreed upon by African governments in 2002 in Abuja, Nigeria. We
want to ensure that we attain that level within the next five years.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Uganda’s population today stands at about 34 million people according to
projections. Next year’s census will provide a more elaborate picture. Projections
from Uganda Bureau of Statistics show that this year alone, close to 1.7 million
will be added to Uganda’s population. It is now very clear that we have to
provide social services and infrastructure to this rapidly growing population.
As our country strives to improve on the quality of its population, we must find
ways of addressing young people’s needs. About 56% of Uganda’s population is
below 18 years of age. Although the youth are sexually active at an early age,
many of them cannot access reproductive health information, services and
supplies. The unwanted and unplanned pregnancies resulting from this situation
put the lives of the teenage mothers and their newly-born babies at a risk. These
mothers are not psychologically and physically prepared for motherhood.
Of course I agree with Population Secretariat that we cannot control the growth
of the population but at least we can ensure that citizens have manageable
families. That is one aspect I am ready and very willing to fully support. Honestly,
an average of six children per woman in the reproductive age bracket is high.
Our mothers and sisters also need ample time to engage in income-generating
activities.
And to the men out there, you should actively participate in planning for your
families. The culture of women stealthily reproductive health services should
become history. Studies show that almost half of couples never discuss family
planning issues. Since it takes two parents to produce children, couples should
be actively involved in determining the number of children they can ably
provide for with basic necessities.
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At the same time, we must ensure that all Ugandan couples who want to space
or limit their births have access to quality reproductive health services, including
a full range of contraceptives consistently available at affordable prices.
Government is doing all it can to ensure equal and equitable access and
availability of a wide range of contraceptives. We are also training the service
providers to ensure that they can effectively address the question of side effects
which scare away most would-be users. However, these efforts may not be
adequate. As such, we need all concerned stakeholders to give us a hand.
I urge each of us to guide our people to have children they can ably provide for
in terms of good feeding; medical attention and care, quality education; so
that Uganda as a country ends up having a quality population that is skilled
enough to contribute to the development of the country.
We must make a choice between having families we can ably provide for and
those that we cannot. We should also not forget that the more children a
mother has, the higher the risk of maternal mortality. Our mothers and their
newly born babies should not die because of preventable factors and diseases.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Now, more than ever before, we politicians must work closely with the
population experts to find a way of planning for and managing the ever
increasing population. We must listen to the advice given by population growth
and management experts because it is based on scientific evidence.
Let me also take this opportunity to thank the leadership and people of Hoima
district for hosting such a successful World Population Day. I would also like to
express Uganda’s gratitude to our development partners who have been
consistently supporting our developmental efforts. Special appreciation goes to
UNFPA and the United Nations as a whole for their support towards addressing
population issues of our country.
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Once again, I thank Population Secretariat and all other stakeholders present
here today, for ensuring that population issues become and remain part of the
national and international agenda.
I thank you all for listening.
Mwebale okumpuliriza
For God and my Country
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