“What a fantastic conference!”. The presentations were of very high quality. This was by far the most informative conference that I have attended in the year 2023. I definitely gained a lot of insight in the area of Human rights and Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights. Congratulations Center for Health, Human Rights and Development!” I spoke.
In the month July 2023, I happened to come across a call from the Center for Health, Human Rights and Development (CEHURD) requesting for submission of research abstracts at an upcoming conference The Uganda National Conference on Health, Human Rights, and Development (UCHD). This was to be the first ever and one of its kind organized by CEHURD and the Ministry of Health. It was scheduled to run from 26th to 29th Sep 2023 at Mestil Hotel, Kampala, Uganda. The theme for the conference was “A right to Health: A vital component in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”.
I further went ahead to scrutinize the details of the conference and found that the research abstracts for submission were to fall in any of the following five tracks;
- Health systems strengthening
- Sexual and reproductive health and rights
- Health, policy, and the law
- Mental health, harm reduction and wellness
- Multi-sectoral collaboration, strategic partnerships, coalitions and movements
This excited me as a Midwife and Women’s Health Specialist, and I informed my research team about the opportunity and requested that we participate in the dissemination of research study findings for some of our published works. This was well embraced, and I submitted two abstracts on teenage pregnancy and sexual violence that were successfully accepted for oral presentation and were well delivered.
The conference started off on 26th Sep 2023 with a workshop on SRHR movement building within the context of Uganda. Here, the rationale for social movements was discussed, and a case study of the Movement for Community-Led Development was shared. Through the Voices of Young People organization, a young person shared their experiences on SRHR and lastly, there was a provocative intersectional panel on the SRHR movement in Uganda.
The official opening ceremony of the conference was held on 27th Sep 2023, with Dr Charles Olaro-Director Curative Services at the Ministry of Health giving opening remarks and officially opening the ceremony on behalf of the Minister of Health, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng who was unable to make it.
As we dived into the conference, Prof Fredrick Edward Makumbi from the School of Public Health and Chair of Makerere University Conference Scientific Committee shared with us deeper insights about the conference. Dr Charles Ayume; the Chairperson of the Uganda Parliamentary Committee on Health led a panel discussion on “our health needs and how the health system can address them.
The panel portrayed inclusiveness with representatives of the young, those with multiple morbidities, another representing people with disabilities and lastly one who testified about darkness in the maternal and child health sector. Additionally, presentations were given by the World Health Organisation, Commissioner of Planning, Policy and Finance and many others.
Interestingly, the conference also had a fundraising Legal Aid dinner which occurred on 28th September 2023. This was aimed at supporting the Legal Aid Department at CEHURD to continue with this important legal aid support work for children and their families. More specifically, to strengthen their legal aid support services to sexually abused children to integrate psychosocial support in their legal aid service.
In the long run, the children would be able to live a normal, stigma-free meaningful life and thrive in all environments including school. I was lucky to attend the dinner which was graced by Her Excellency the Ambassador of Sweden to Uganda Maria Håkansson. It was so touching to listen to one of the mothers testify about her own daughter who was raped by the father.
It’s important to note that more than 300 delegates from different corners of the world including Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, France, Sweden, the UK, the USA and more attended the conference. Over 100 abstracts were presented. I was privileged to listen to and learn from other researchers with exciting scientific discoveries while also advancing programs and policies to create more resilient health systems.
I urge fellow scientists to embrace attending scientific conferences as this helps one to connect, network, grow, learn and benefit greatly from interacting with the best minds in their respective disciplines.
Lastly, the conference ended on 29th September 2023 with The Kampala Declaration on Health, Human Rights and Development document generated, which was one of the results of the UCHD conference.
The author; Lilian Nuwabaine Luyima; is a BSc Nurse & MSN-Midwife & Women’s’ Health Specialist
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