Health worker / Counsellor RAHU peer educator/worker Other peer educator/worker Other NGO / CBO (Specify) Village Health Team (VHT) Community group/club Religious leader Local leader/politician Others
5.63 4.93 5.63 3.52 2.11 7.75 13.38
8 7 8 5 3 11 19
When asked about the role that district and community leaders played in facilitating young people’s access to SRH during the lockdown, the majority (72.16%) of the caregivers/parents interviewed reported that no assistance was provided as indicated in figure 21 below. Figure 21: Community leaders’ support towards SRH of young people. Among those who could attest to the role of 70 leaders in facilitating 60 access to SRH, slightly 50 more than a tenth 40 (10.26%) mentioned provision of 30 sensitization and 20 10.26 9.16 education, while 9.15% 6.59 10 0.73 talked about the 0 issuance of movement No assistance Provided Issuing of Don’t know Supply of SRH at all awareness & movement products permits. On the other sensitization permits hand, 6.5% of caregivers interviewed did not know any form of support extended by district and community leaders to facilitate young people’s access to and utilization of RH services during the lockdown. 80
72.16
To further understand the role of district and community leaders in facilitating young people’s access to SRH during the lockdown qualitative interviews were held with different categories of stakeholders including local leaders and peer educators. Findings reveal that district officials put in place various strategies to ensure continuous provision of SRH services to those who needed them, despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown. The excerpt below from an interview with the DHO explains some of these measures. The district covid-19 task force headed by the RDC allowed nurses with their work identity cards to move freely to and from the health facilities. They were referred to as essential workers and this enabled health facilities to open for young people to access the needed SRH services. However, the cost of transport more than doubled which worsened the problem services (District Health Officer, Mayuge) Page 36 of 118
