USAID Q1-2023 Acholi Newsletter (approved)

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

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.

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.

The USAID Local Partner Health Services (LPHS)—Ankole and Acholi Activity championed the 2023 pre-World AIDS Day commemoration activities in the Acholi sub-region. These pre-WAD events were held at four different locations: Gulu University in Gulu City, Bobi HC III and Pukony in Odek subcounty, Omoro district; Awach HC IV and a community served by the HC IV in Gulu district.

3.6 billion people globally still live without access to safely managed sanitation and over 494 million still practicing open defecation. Safely managed sanitation is a toilet that is not shared by other households and has a washable floor where human excreta is hygienically separated from human contact and is disposed of safely. In Uganda, according to the Water and Environment Sector Report 2020, only 78% have access to toilets and…