Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOs), the Karamoja region had the least pit latrine coverage of 30 percent compared to the national average of 77 percent. Furthermore, the region is faced with a water crisis most especially in schools. On average 60 percent of children in the region live more than 30 minutes away from the nearest water sources and more than 30 percent have no access to safe water. In 2017, the Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) upgraded the national WASH standards in all schools that led to a set of 24 standards. These standards among others include; providing 1.5 liters of safe drinking water every day to all learners and staff, separate latrines for both boys, girls, and children with disabilities, and avail one hand washing facility for every 40 learners with water and soap in all school latrines and also provide a waste management system.

In a bid to support Uganda achieve its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) three (achieve good health and wellbeing for people of all ages) and six (to ensure clean water and sanitation for all) and the fact that the Republic of Korea is at the heart of driving global agenda, the government through KOICA and in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund launched a five-year project (October 2018- December 2023) on improving access to water, sanitation and hygiene to enhance adolescent-friendly school environments in Karamoja region. The 10 USD million project is implemented in seven Karamoja districts of; Abim, Amudat, Kaabong, Kotido, Moroto, Napak, and Nakapiriti and is anticipated to benefit 56,000 children in 100 schools (88 primary schools and 12 secondary schools).

The State-of-the-art ambulances handed over by KOICA and WHO to the MOH to support referral

system

66 The project has so far recorded the following achievements;

a) Fifty- three (53) solar-powered water systems were constructed, and these have benefited 15,890 learners in districts of Napak, Karenga, Kaabong, Kotido and Moroto, hence access to basic drinking water services and child-friendly latrines in five schools. This has improved the pupil-to-stance (latrine) ratio from 146:1 to 39:1 for boys and from 86:1 to 31:1 for girls in the targeted schools in year one⁵⁰. For year two targeted schools, the stance ratio improved from 152:1 to 94:1 for boys, and 142:1 to 49:1 for girls, against the national norm of pupil stance ratio of 40:1⁵¹.

b) A total of 1,432 adolescent girls (556 in year one and 876 in year two) have gained access to menstrual hygiene products and menstrual hygiene management commitments have been developed by 22 schools⁵². Additionally, senior women, men teachers, and school prefects were trained on menstrual hygiene management, gender-responsive approaches, and other WASH facilities. A total of 513 teachers (261 males and 252 females) received the training from the targeted 37 schools⁵³.

c) Rehabilitated 20 boreholes and repaired 35 rainwater tanks in more schools and water quality analysis was conducted in all boreholes⁵⁴.

d) Constructed a total of thirty one (31) drainable latrine blocks consisting of 155 stances in 22 schools so far as shown in the table 3.4 below.

e) 4,643 pupils gained knowledge on appropriate hand washing practices.

f) Operation and maintenance plans have been developed by 33 school management committees and boards which have demonstrated improved capacity to manage WASH activities.

g) 31 school health clubs have been revived and are functional and implementing hygiene activities. In addition, trained 31 school health club members in the making of sanitary pads from locally available materials. These consisted of 1,339 school children (597 boys and 742 girls. They were also sensitized on correct and incorrect hygiene practices, safe management of water, the role of children in hygiene promotion as well as child to child and child to adult dissemination of hygiene practices.

h) Developed hygiene promotion tools including training modules and learning materials to support the accelerated implementation of hygiene promotion in targeted districts. In addition, nine schools have been oriented to apply these skills.

i) Constructed 46 hand washing facilities with water outlets suitable for different age groups.

In addition, formed and or re-activated and trained 40 water user committees (WUCs) consisting of 384 people (224 male and 160 female). The committees were trained on proper operation and maintenance (O&M) of water facilities, roles in operation maintenance, accountability and effective management of O&M funds.

50 UNICEF Annual progress report, KOICA Uganda, October, 2019

51 UNICEF Annual progress report, KOICA Uganda, October, 2020

52 UNICEF Annual progress report, KOICA Uganda, October, 2019

53 UNICEF Annual progress report, KOICA Uganda, October, 2019

54 UNICEF Annual progress report, KOICA Uganda, October, 2019

67 j) Trained 114 hand pump mechanics in repairing and maintenance of water systems. In addition, each district was provided with a bicycle, spare parts and a toolbox for future maintenance of different water facilities in the region. The mechanics trained are members of the district hand pump mechanics association. Pertinent to this, 37 trainings were conducted for school management committees (SMCs), Parents Teachers Association (PTA) in the operation and maintenance of WASH facilities. These comprised of 590 people of whom 355 were males and 235 females.

Table 3.4: Status of latrines completed and under construction in the targeted schools

District School name

Source:UNICEF annual progress report, 2020

68 Table 3.5: Pupil stance ratio in the targeted primary and secondary schools

No. School Name

69

Source: UNICEF annual progress report, 2020 3.3 Education

Uganda’s overall development agenda is guided by Vision 2040, which envisages a transformed society from a peasant to a modern and prosperous country within 30 years. This implies that the country should harness the identified opportunities to strengthen the fundamentals that must transform it from a predominantly low-income country to a competitive upper-middle-income country with a per capita income of USD 9,500.

Abundant labour is one of the opportunities that Vision 2040 emphasizes to be harnessed along the pathway to middle-income status, and human capital is one of the fundamentals that must be strengthened to achieve middle-income status. Thus, education is a critical lever in providing the critical skills and values that can improve total factor productivity.

Human capital development has long been an important agenda in Korea’s history. The heavy investment in education and training of skilled workers based on industrial labor demand were major factors that contributed to Korea’s industrialization and economic development. Based on this experience, Korea’s Country Partnership Strategy for Uganda in the education sector focuses on technical and vocational training as well as basic education, with a specific focus on capacity building of teachers and quality education.

The Education and Sports Sector Analysis, (ESSA 2019) reveals that Uganda’s education and sports sector has achieved substantial progress especially the enrolment in primary education (with the Gross Enrolment Rate reaching 111% in 2017) and in Business, Technical, Vocational Education, and Training (BTVET) where enrolment nearly tripled between the years 2012/13 and 2018/19. Formal BTVET enrolment increased from 21,763 in 2007 to 95,841 in 2017 and a similar trend was realized at the University level with enrolment growing from 96,821 in 2007 to 259,027 in 2017.

Nevertheless, in regards to increasing, equitable access to quality and relevant education and sports is still wanting in order to meet the job market demands and global trends as well as the aspirations envisaged in Vision 2040. For example, the automation and computerization of work require that the graduates are well equipped with skills necessary for not only increasing their employability but also innovativeness and creativity necessary for job creation and competitiveness in the wake of the 4th Industrial Revolution.

The Skilling Uganda strategy, also known as the BTVET Strategic Plan 2011-2020, and other sector programs in recent years have been geared towards this effort. In a bid to support the

70 government in this agenda, Korea established the Vocational training institute in Uganda through a mutual agreement.