Perceptions towards Human Rights and Sexual and Reproductive Health Services by Internally Displaced Persons in Northern Uganda
Juliet Faith Aporomon, Christopher Garimoi Orach, Annelie Rostedt, Nelson Musoba, Byamukama Nathan
Statistics Methods, Institute of Statistics and Applied Economics Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

Background: An estimated 1.6 million internally displaced persons (IDP) from northern Uganda have been living in encampment since late 1980s. We explored the perceptions of the displaced populations towards human rights and sexual and reproductive health services.

Methods: We interviewed 1,383 respondents selected from 35 of 67 camps, comprising (968) 70% adults and (415) 30% adolescents; 60% were females and 40% males, and held 27 key informant interviews and 52 focus group discussions.

Results: Our study found that the majority 68% of the respondents (69% males and 67% females) have heard about the notion of human rights. The main sources of information were UN/NGOs 23.9%, radios 23.5%, and health facility 14.5% respectively. The right to health (19.5%), freedom of association (15.9%) and the right to education (15.7%) were the most known. Most respondents (82.6%), 86.1% men compared to 79.1% women have received information about HIV/AIDS prevention. Nearly half (44%) of respondents did not know about the availability of condoms in their respective camps. The majority (77.3%) women compared to (68.5%) men consider domestic violence common in the camps. However, the majority 68.5% (71% males and 65.9% females) were satisfied with the care they receive at the health facility.

Conclusions and Recommendations Our study suggests that the majority of the displaced populations have heard about the notion of human rights mainly through humanitarian agencies and media coverage. There is high level of awareness about HIV/AIDS. Gender based violence is perceived to be common in the settings. Our findings suggest the need for stakeholders to increase community awareness about human rights and HIV/AIDS and to strengthen the capacities of first line health facilities to deliver quality health (reproductive) services in the settings.

Biography: My name is Juliet Faith Aporomon, a Statistician by profession and currently pursuing a Masters degree in Statistics at Makerere University,kampala Uganda. I'm Married to a lovely medical Doctor with Three Handsome Boys as our children. I'm looking forward to enhancing my career in research/statistics where the sky could be the only limit.