Netherlands Commits Shs58 Billion to Uganda Youth Health Programme

What the report says

Nile Post reported that the Netherlands has pledged $16 million, estimated at about Shs58 billion, to Uganda’s Strengthening Adolescents and Youth Rights and Empowerment programme, known as SAY Plus+. The agreement was signed on Thursday by the United Nations Population Fund and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Uganda, adding the Netherlands to a donor group that already includes Denmark, Sweden and Iceland.

According to the report, the money will go into a pooled fund supporting youth empowerment work through 2030. The programme is intended to improve access to youth-friendly health services, HIV prevention, sexual and reproductive health care, gender-based violence prevention and response, and life-skills training. It focuses on adolescents and young people aged 10 to 24, with emphasis on adolescent girls, young women, out-of-school youth and refugees.

UNFPA Uganda Representative Kristine Blokhus said the support targets a country with a very young population, noting that 73 percent of Ugandans are under 30. Nile Post also cited the Ministry of Health as welcoming the partnership. Dr Daniel Kyabayinze, the director of public health, said district health teams would be involved in strengthening youth-friendly services and integrating HIV prevention, reproductive health and gender-based violence interventions.

The embassy’s Chargé d’Affaires, Bouwe-Jan Smeding, described the arrangement as a four-year partnership aimed at long-term improvements in adolescent health and welfare. The report said SAY Plus+ is aligned with Uganda’s National Development Plan IV and will be delivered through government bodies, communities and civil society organisations.