Advancing Design Equity in Uganda Schools

Just over a year ago, a third of Tegweng village in Kitgum district located in the northern Uganda practiced open defecation and none of the households practiced proper handwashing. Over the last year, the (USHA) has worked with the 37 households in the village to change household hygiene and sanitation norms and guide the village to improve their sanitation status.

The United States has a longstanding partnership with the Ugandan people. U.S. assistance, implemented through local and international non-governmental and civil society partners, directly benefits Ugandans from all backgrounds and regions of the country. Millions are living healthier, learning better, earning more, and advocating for their civic and human rights thanks to our strong partnership.

Working through grantee organizations, USHA supports schools to attain a WASH friendly status, which involves promoting of handwashing with soap, proper menstrual hygiene management, and operation and maintenance of sanitation and water facilities. The USHA team also helps revive and institute school health clubs, encourage key hygiene behaviors, construct improved segregated toilets for boys and girls, and provide access to safe drinking water

Fifty-one year-old George Okumu is a farmer based in BaroLemo village in Gulu district. He is married to two wives and has nine children. George attended a community training on sanitation and learned how basic sanitation services hold promise for healthier families. After learning, George volunteered to be the team leader of the Sanitation Committee in his village.

Although the overall toilet coverage in Uganda is at 77.2%, open defecation is still high at 22.9% and 12.1% in rural and urban area respectively, hand washing with soap at 36% in the rural areas and 40% in urban areas according to the Water and Environment Sector Performance Report 2019. Open defecation rate is highest in the north at (18%), in some rural districts as high as 51%.

Award winning photo featured on the cover page of the 2023 US Report on Aid to the People of Uganda.