Teach your children sexual reproductive health, EALA MP tells parents

Ugandan lawmaker in the East African Legislative Assembly, Mrs. Jackline Amongin, has asked parents to always educate their children on issues of sexual reproductive health.

While addressing the audience at the inter-university dialogue at Makerere University on October 28, Ms Amongin asked parents to seriously take up the responsibility of educating their children on sexual health issues.

Parents, she said, are in the best position to provide their children with accurate, effective information. She noted that many young people have limited access to accurate information about sexuality, sexual and reproductive health and their rights, leaving them vulnerable to preventable problems.

“I mentor children in my community when I have the time, and through this I have noticed that adolescents often avoid discussing sexual issues out of fear. Parents are also often too shy to start these conversations. But if you don’t talk to your children about these issues, someone else will – and that could shape their future choices,” she said.

The lawmaker also pointed out that many parents send their children to college without providing them with sexual and reproductive health information, assuming they will abstain until after graduation. In many cases, however, students turn to peers or the Internet for guidance, which can lead to misinformation and risky decisions.

The Inter-University Dialogue, organized by Reproductive Health Uganda in partnership with Own Your Future, Power to Youth and the Ministry of Health, aims to educate young people – especially university students – on sexual and reproductive health issues.

The event brought together students from several universities, as well as policy makers from the Ministries of Education, Health and Gender, Labor and Social Development. Under the theme ‘Promoting youth sexual health: leveraging the digital space’, the dialogue focused on how digital platforms can be used to provide young people with accurate information and services related to sexual and reproductive health.

“Preliminary results from the 2024 National Population and Housing Census show that young people make up 78 percent of our total population. Despite being the majority, they face significant sexual and reproductive health challenges, including high rates of teenage pregnancy, HIV, cervical cancer, gender-based violence and limited access to essential services,” said Peter Mark Mutebi, Director of Finance at Reproductive health Uganda.

He added: “As we work to tackle these challenges, we recognize the potential of technological innovations to transform the way these services are delivered to young people.”

Mutebi highlighted the digital space as an ideal platform to create awareness as youths are very active on social media.

“Young people should have access to platforms like Wekume, telemedicine services and interactive chatbots to receive timely, personalized and tailored sexual and reproductive health care. Through these types of dialogues, we can hold all stakeholders accountable for building youth-responsive systems. In addition, we aim to strengthen partnerships across sectors, from research to policy-making and advocacy, thereby fostering a resilient network that meets the real needs of our youth,” he added.