Ida Merusa (not her real name) is a 16-year-old adolescent mother who suffered double jeopardy when she was defiled after fleeing armed conflict in her home country of South Sudan. She now lives as a refugee at Imvepi Refugee Settlement in Uganda’s West Nile district of Terego.
“When I became pregnant after
being defiled at the age of 15, I dropped out of school. Life has been
difficult for me, given that as an adolescent mother and a refugee, I am
often denied rights such as access to education, job opportunities and basic
needs for survival. It is a cycle of physical, psychological and emotional
hardship, and you have to quickly adapt to the new environment you find
yourself in,” Merusa says while breastfeeding her one-year-and-one- month-old
baby.Merusa is not alone.
Her newly found friend, Sarah
Fatuma, a 19-year-old mother and a refugee from the Democratic Republic of
Congo, also dropped out of school while in the latter stages of secondary
school at Imvepi Senior Secondary School.
“Life in a refugee settlement is
quite challenging, especially for young girls, because we can fall into
the wrong peer groups. I used to loiter around markets and did not take my
studies seriously, doing odd jobs to meet living costs and to support my
family with essential supplies. That’s how I ended up pregnant and leaving school,”
Fatuma recalls.
Merusa and Fatuma are among many
adolescent mothers and child-led households who fled armed conflict in
their countries of origin and are rebuilding their lives at Imvepi Refugee
Settlement.
Given their vulnerable
situations, both young mothers faced harmful coping strategies for
self-reliance and sustainable livelihoods. They engaged in income-generating
activities and undertook domestic duties at a tender age to support their households.
They had no choice but to leave school.
For these young mothers, after
attending the mentorship and life skilling training, life has never been the
same again. Fatuma already enrolled back to school and Merusa says she will
join her friend to continue with her education next year at Impevi SS.
The cash and skilling training
under the PROSPECTS Programme
The mentorship and life skilling
training programme, implemented by UNICEF- Uganda is a multi-year strategic
initiative funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands to empower young
refugees and host community members in eight countries that include
Uganda, Egypt, Iraq, Kenya, Lebanon, Jordan and Ethiopia.
The programme focuses on skills
development, including foundational learning and digital training, to help
youth transition from education to employment. It provides access to life
skills, financial literacy and pathways to education and livelihoods that
enhance resilience and self-reliance.
As part of the broader PROSPECTS initiative,
UNICEF Uganda is supporting an unconditional cash transfer programme to support
out-of-school adolescents and young people, with a specific focus on forcibly
displaced persons and host communities in four refugee-hosting districts. The
districts include Terego, Madi-Okollo, Isingiro, and Kampala for urban
refugees.
This is because many forcibly
displaced adolescents and young people like Maseru and Fatuma face
heightened vulnerability due to displacement including disruption of education,
family separation, exposure to violence and limited access to services.
These challenges are further compounded for those with disabilities or
from extremely poor households.
As a result, many forcibly
displaced adolescents and young people are deprived of opportunities for
education, skills development, mentorship, and protection. Participation
in such programmes often carries a high opportunity cost, as adolescents and
young people are expected to engage in income-generating activities or
domestic responsibilities to support their households.
To address these barriers,
Stella Ogalo, a Social Policy Specialist at UNICEF Uganda, explained that
the social protection component of the PROSPECT programme provides direct
financial support to adolescents and young people to offset the
opportunity costs foregone, thereby enabling them to participate in
life-skills training, mentorship and digital skilling offered, without
sacrificing their immediate livelihoods.
The project focuses on providing cash support
to out-of-school adolescents and young people for six months. Each member of
the cohort receives UGX 45,000 (US$12) per month, with the disabled
beneficiaries receiving an additional 50 per cent top-up of UGX 22,500
(US$6) per month. The cash assistance is intended to bridge the burden of
accessing skilling programmes provided by UNICEF and partners within the
PROSPECTS framework funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Other
skilling programs include digital skilling, vocation skilling.
i-UPSHIFT and entrepreneurship skilling.
“These adolescents have faced
challenges such as transport, childcare (for those with children) and
other household demands that affect their ability to participate in the
skilling programme. Therefore, the cash provided is not meant to cover
skilling costs but to enable these adolescents and young people to access
mentorship and other related opportunities,” Ogalo emphasized.
Stella Ogalo further stated that
the programme also strengthens linkages to other essential services such
as child protection, education, psychosocial support and healthcare
provided by the Ugandan Government through established local structures.
Beneficiaries will be provided with information on social protection
systems in countries of return, helping to prepare adolescents and young
people who may eventually choose to repatriate.
“By promoting financial inclusion, enhancing
self-reliance and preventing harmful coping mechanisms such as child
labour and early marriages, the programme aims to improve the well-being
of displaced and host communities and lay the groundwork for long-term
resilience and sustainable livelihoods,” she added.
In line with the Refugee and Host Population
Empowerment (ReHoPE) strategic framework (2017), Ogalo said the programme
endeavours to support both the refugee and host community. Although
Merusa’s abuser fled back to South Sudan and escaped justice, she has
regained her self-esteem and is determined to follow in Fatuma’s footsteps
and return to school next year.
“The cash and skilling training programme has
given me the confidence to go back to school. I want to study and join
Muni University to pursue nursing. I have used the money provided by
UNICEF Uganda to invest in a joint-venture business with my elder sister and
have also joined the Goodwill Village Saving Group (VSG),” she added.
Another South Sudanese refugee,
Noah Baker (21), a cash plus skilling beneficiary who had dropped out in
primary seven, has also gone back to school. “I’m now in senior two at
Imvepi Secondary School, and I thank UNICEF for the financial support,
which has helped increase income in my small baking business,” he said.
During one of the training sessions, Merusa
and Fatuma’s cohort were visited by Hamida Kabarwan -a cadre health worker at
Odupi Health Center III in Odupi subcounty, Terego district. Kabarwan
provided vital information to the beneficiaries about child protection
services and Government of Uganda programmes tailored at stopping child
labour and early marriages.
The trainees were also informed
about the Sauti -Uganda Child Helpline (UCHL) through which adolescents and
young people can report cases of abuse and gender-based violence (GBV).
The call centre operates 24 hours a day across Uganda under the Ministry
of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD).
Sustainability and scaling up
Ogalo said the programme
prioritizes government leadership and ownership by working closely with
national and local authorities to advocate for inclusive financing and
the integration of adolescent-focused social protection into national
planning and budgeting processes. It will also strengthen community engagement
and enhance capacity-building of local leaders, service providers and
community structures to ensure long-term continuity of services.
