Promoting stay in school amidst COVID 19 pandemic surge

Umbrella of Hope Initiative (UHOPI) ran a stay in school campaign amidst the COVID 19 pandemic surge, to promote stay in school of young vulnerable girls and those that had been exposed to Sexual Gender Based Violence. According to Jessica Anena the Gulu District Gender Officer, Gulu registered 4477 teenage pregnancies in the 18 months between January 2020 and June 2021; https//www.independent.co.ug. UHOPI supported girls with scholastic materials that included exercise books, pens, rulers, mathematical sets radios, education learning materials from Ministry of Education and Sports (MoES) and encouraging them to commit to stay in school through signing stay in school commitment forms. This was accompanied by consistent counseling and career guidance that engaged girls during the lockdowns and kept them focused on staying in school. This approach was tested on twenty girls in transitional classes from P.4 to p.7 in 6 months of the first lock down February 2020 to August 2020 and was successful.  UHOPI rolled the stay in school campaigns in most vulnerable schools, to other girls at higher risk of dropping out. We can proudly say the approach curbed on the teenage pregnancies despite the higher teenage pregnancies reported in the region. We have rolled it to 1645 girls and it has yielded success.  You need to adopt a holistic package to retain teenagers in school. The girls that were beneficiaries of Universal Primary Education were provided scholastic materials, career guidance and counseling, menstrual hygiene management, training in life skills and making of reusable sanitary pads. In addition the girls were engaged in dance and drama which improved their confidence and self-esteem. The intervention was funded by UNWomen with support from Spot Light Initiative and the European Union.