She was minutes old when we met her cuddled on her mother. Linda Chepkemboi rested her hand protectively over her baby. This 19-year-old mother was tired but happy, and her child, yet to be named, was her first. Linda was forced to drop out of school and leave her parents’ home, when she discovered she was pregnant.
Fifteen years ago, Lauben Agaba, a farmer and father of five children, tested positive for HIV at Rushooka Health Center located in the southwestern Ugandan district of Ntungamo. His wife Ruth tested negative; both thought there was no hope for their family.
While a teenager in rural Mbale, Sylvia experienced her parents’ divorce. With no secure social support, she lost her teen years to turmoil. “When my parents divorced, it was horrible,” says Sylvia. “Our family broke up. My siblings stayed with different relatives. It was brutal as a teenager trying to find a place in my community.”
Vice President Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi and the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), in the presence of USAID Mission Director Joakim Parker, launched today a nationwide campaign to combat aflatoxins that contaminate improperly handled grain, causing severe health complications, including liver cancer and stunting. The campaign, supported through USAID’s Feed the Future program, aims to provide advice and informational materials for farmers, processors, traders and consumers to improve post-harvest handling methods and food quality.
The U.S. government and the American people are demonstrating their continued support for the refugee response in Uganda with nearly $83 million in additional humanitarian assistance by the end of the U.S. fiscal year 2018. This new funding includes a $40 million contribution to the United Nations World Food Programme, a $29 million contribution to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and nearly $14 million to support the work of other international and non-governmental organizations. Including this new funding, the U.S. provided a total of $139 million in fiscal year 2018 in support of the Uganda refugee response.
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Last updated: May 16, 2019
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