The Government of Uganda’s lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19 banned all public and private transport, closed schools and markets, and mandated a country-wide curfew. From the onset of the pandemic, the government trivialized growing rates of gender-based violence (GBV) and did not recognize the entirety of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services as essential, disrupting service delivery systems and threatening the wellbeing of women and girls.

Researchers at Columbia University and Makerere University¹ interviewed 27 GBV and SRHR service providers and other stakeholders between July and September 2020 to understand how restrictive policies to contain COVID-19 and de-prioritization of GBV and SRHR services affected critical GBV/SRHR services…

Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. (2020). Impacts of COVID-19 on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Programs and Services – Uganda.