UNAS Programs

Children, Youth, and Families

Root Causes of Under-Immunisation in Africa 2019-2020

In 2016, an estimated 19.5 million infants worldwide were not reached with routine immunization services such as DTP3 vaccine. According to the WHO’s 2016 epidemiological records, the African region had both the highest number of unimmunized and incompletely immunized infants in the world. Unsurprisingly, Africa also accounts for roughly half of global vaccine preventable deaths (VPDs) for children under five years of age, despite having only about 15 percent of the world’s population.

To help understand the root causes of under-immunisation of children and vulnerable populations in sub-Saharan Africa, the Uganda National Academy of Sciences in partnership with the Academy of Sciences of South Africa (ASSAf), with support from the South Africa Medical Research Council and the South Africa Department of Science and Technology, were tasked to convene a consensus committee that would identify, review and assess the current state of knowledge the root causes of under immunisation in sub-Saharan Africa. The committee was tasked to develop recommendations for overcoming these barriers based on lessons learnt and contextual priorities.

In 2019 a panel of eleven experts was constituted to undertake this task. These include:

  • Prof Harriet Mayanja-Kizza (Uganda), Co-Chair is an internist and immunologist trained at Makerere University, Uganda (MBChB, MMed Internal Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA (MSc Immunology, and a doctorate from University of Amsterdam, Netherlands. She is currently Professor of internal Medicine at Makerere College of Health Sciences.

  • Prof Shabir Madhi (South Africa), Co-chair
  • Prof Richard Adegbola (Nigeria) is a Consultant and a Research Professor at the Department of Microbiology at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Lagos, Nigeria.
  • Dr Juliet Kiguli (Uganda) is a Senior Lecturer, at the Department of Community Health and Behavioral Sciences at the College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Uganda.
  • Dr Annet Kisakye (Uganda) is the EPI team leader at the WHO Uganda office, and she is also the WHO liaison representative on the Uganda National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (UNITAG).
  • Prof Sileshi Lulseged Desta (Ethiopia) is Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health at Addis Ababa University and Senior Associate Research Scientist at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, New York, USA.
  • Dr Helene Mambu-Ma-Disu (Democratic Republic of Congo)is currently a Senior Programme Officer for the Sustainable Immunization Financing Program of the Sabin Vaccine Institute, for whom she coordinates field activities in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo and Madagascar.
  • Prof Jeffrey Mphahlele (South Africa) is the Vice-President of the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC).
  • Ms Diana Kizza Mugenzi (Uganda) is a Senior Programme Manager for the Sustainable Health Financing Programme at the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI).
  • Prof Helen Rees (South Africais the founder and Executive Director of the Wits Reproductive Health and HIV Institute (WRHI), South Africa.
  • Prof Charles Shey Wiysonge (Cameroon and South Africa) is the Director of Cochrane South Africa, the South African Cochrane Centre at the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC). He is also a Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Stellenbosch University and Professor of Public Health at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Project activities and progress

The committee has met thrice, as well as held two stakeholder consultation symposia, one in Uganda and another in South Africa; in order to gather and deliberate on the evidence which was used to develop conclusions and recommendations. A comprehensive study report is expected mid 2020

Prevention of Violence against Children 2017 -2018

In 2017, UNAS launched its Forum on Children Youth and Families. The Forum on Children, Youth, and Families is a neutral platform for evidence-based discussions of how to address issues pertinent to children, youth, and families. Bringing together participants from the public sector, private sector, civil society, and international development, this forum addresses commonly shared issues. 

Following a report of the findings of a national survey on Violence against Children (VAC) in Uganda, published by the Ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development in August 2018 (See link to report here), it was clear that VaC continues to be a significant problem in Uganda. Although past research had indictaed similar findings, and informed positive policy development and programmatic response to VaC children, no significant reductions in VaC had been registered in Uganda for over a decade.

With the support of the Oak Foundation and implemented through Global Health Uganda, a consortium of partners from WEI Bantwana Initiative, the Centre for Health and Development of Children (CHDC), Education Local Experience Center Uganda (ELECU), the Straight Talk Foundation (STF), and Uganda National Academy of Sciences (UNAS), came together to address the prevention of violence against children as this forum’s first major issue of common importance. 

IN 2018 UNAS constituted a panel of experts that was tasked to stimulate high-level discussions and actively interrogate perspectives that have not been fully examined in the discussion of VAC. The result is a report that seeks to stimulate discussions at a philosophical level, such that the programmatic thinking can investigate new and innovative means of managing social change and evolution.

The following members comprised Panel of Experts:

  • Prof. Edward Kirumira, Former Principal of College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Makerere University and currently Director, Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study, in South Africa. Fellow of the Uganda National Academy of Sciences (FUNAS),
  • Dr. Jesca Nsungwa-Sabiti, Commissioner for Reproductive and Child Health, Ministry of Health.
  • Prof. Grace K. Bantebya, Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies, Makerere University School of Gender and Women’s Studies and Fellow of UNAS.
  • Hon. Benard Atiku, MP Ayivu District and Chair of the Parliamentary Forum on the Child, Parliament of Uganda.
  • Ms Stella Ayo-Odongo, Executive Director, Uganda Children Rights NGO Network.
  • Mr Patrick Onyango, Country Director, TPO Uganda.
  • Mr Tumuhimbise Zadock, National Chairperson, Uganda National Teachers Union.
  • SSP Maureen Atuhaire, Child and Family Protection Unit, Uganda Police Force.
  • Mr Gideon Badagawa, Executive Director, Private Sector Foundation Uganda.

Based on the discussions, a Consensus study committee was constituted and tasked to:

Examine prevention of violence against children strategies in Uganda. Provide a contextual overview of the current state of children in Uganda. In addition, answer specific queries regarding the following:

The Consensus Study Committee was comprised of:

  • Prof. Grace Kyomuhendo Bantebya. Chair> –Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies, Makerere University School of Gender and Women’s Studies and Fellow of UNAS
  • James Ssembatya Kaboggoza– Child Protection Consultant and Fmr. Asst. Commissioner for Children’s Affairs in the Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development
  • Joyce Wanican– Senior Advisor on Children, USAID (Fmr. Executive Director of AfriChild Centre)
  • Dr. Zahara Nampewo– Executive Director, Human Rights and Peace Centre, Makerere University School of Law.

The study findings in Summary

 According to the 2016 Violence Against Children Survey, an estimated 75% of Ugandan children experience one or more forms of physical, emotional, or sexual violence. This level of violence is symptomatic of a broader and more fundamental problem: rapid changes and erosion in the social fabric of Ugandan society. Despite the ensuing country’s economic growth, the high level of violence suggests that greater gains in social and economic development are being lost due to the negative consequences of violence. This video compiled by Education Local Experience Center Uganda ELECU on violence in schools underscores this.

A reorientation in thinking that encourages Ugandan citizens to more actively participate in the process of preventing VAC could provide key contributions to Uganda’s sustainable development.

The recommendations for action were categorized in three aspects and they closely examine the characteristics and changing dynamics of :

  1.  the targeted child,
  2. the community in which the child lives and
  3. the attendant legal and policy system.

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