The Korea International Cooperation Agency together with UNICEF have launched a programme to scale up water, sanitation and hygiene services in schools in Karamoja subregion.
The five-year programme to be implemented until 2022 is set to benefit atleast 56,000 children from 100 schools in all Karamoja districts. Districts to be covered include Abim, Amudat, Kaabong, Kotido, Moroto, Napak and Nakapiripirit.
The two agencies have provided a grant of Shs 37 billion in total, Shs 30 billion of which has been availed by the Korea International Cooperation Agency and Shs 7 billion by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
The interventions will be implemented by UNICEF, together with the Ministry of Education and Sports and the seven District Local Governments of the Karamoja region.
At an event on Thursday to launch the program, the Korean Ambassador to Uganda, Kim You-Churl said; “Korea is proud to partner with UNICEF and the government of Uganda to provide safe water, adequate sanitation and effective hygiene services to tens of thousands of vulnerable school-going children in Karamoja”.
He said the grant will help to improve the school environment of all 100 schools targeted, thereby helping Uganda achieve many of its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Uganda’s national development targets.
By the end of the programme, all selected schools will have a comprehensive Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Services package, including school latrines, a solar powered water system and handwashing facilities.
This package will help schools in Karamoja meet the recommended national standard of one latrine for every 40 pupils, up from the current ratio of one latrine for every 70 students in Karamoja.
It will also reduce the distance that children have to cover to access safe water to within 500 meters, a significant reduction from the more than 30 minutes it presently takes the majority of children across Uganda to access safe water.
On her part, Dr. Doreen Mulenga, UNICEF’s Representative in Uganda said this programme will ensure that more than 50,000 children attending these schools to stay in school as well improve their learning outcomes. It will also help to improve the school health environment, thereby reducing the likelihood of a spread of contagious diseases, she added.
“UNICEF is very grateful to the people of Korea for this contribution, which will help lift some of the poorest children in Uganda out of debilitating poverty; where they are deprived of many of the basic services and rights they need to develop to their full potential,” Dr Mulenga said.
Other interventions of the programme include: provision of life skills education for girls, including menstrual hygiene management; social mobilization campaigns to accelerate positive behavior change among individuals and broader social change among communities; and district-level advocacy.
