Joan Amanda Baruna

October 11 marks International Day of the Girl, a day to recognize and reflect upon girls’ rights and the need to empower girls around the world. Ensuring that adolescents and girls of reproductive age have access to sexual education and contraceptive choice is central to their empowerment — through contraception, they have a greater chance of completing their education, pursuing their careers, and fulfilling their dreams. FP2020 spoke with Joan Amanda Baruna, 23 of Kampala, Uganda about her work to bring contraception to women and girls in their communities. Read two other interviews with youth advocates from Zambia and India.

Joan Amanda is Team Leader for Uganda Youth Alliance for Family Planning and Adolescent Health and Country Coordinator for International Youth Alliance on Family Planning (IYAFP).

Why family planning?

Family Planning is crucial to not only to girls and women but to boys, men, the community, and the entire nation. When I look at the rising population of my country and other low developing countries globally, and I hear about the high fertility rates of the women and girls in Uganda, comparing all that to the increasing poverty and poor living conditions, I realize that it’s imperative.

Family Planning, used rightly, can help both man and woman to have a happy sexual life with well-spaced and well-cared for children as a family.

Why are young girls so important?

Young girls should have the option of using modern contraception because the times have changed. Many young girls have fallen victim to teenage pregnancy [because] they don’t have the right information on how to use or even access the contraceptives such as condoms.

It’s a girl’s right to have access to correct information on contraception, if they ask for it and as long as they are sexually active or reached the stage of puberty/adolescence.

What makes you hopeful about the future for girls in your home country?

What makes me hopeful in Uganda is the level of commitment towards family planning from the ministry of health, stakeholders from the donor community and community organizations.

I believe that with a change of mindset, and the more people come to believe that access to family planning by the young people is not restricted to giving birth but to the entire reproductive health situation of the country, the better we shall be.

What actions have you taken to promote family planning in your community?

I was part of the process that developed the Ugandan Costed Implementation Plan on Family Planning (CIP-FP), and helped ensure it included giving young people access to family planning, including adolescents.

I have also helped organize two national youth festival in Kampala where, together with my team-mates in the Uganda Youth Alliance for Family Planning and Adolescent Health, have organized and carried out condom drives to educate young people on how to properly use condoms. This is done for both male and female condoms. I have been part of partner activities where we hold community activities to educate people on contraception, especially condom use, including condom use demonstrations and family planning drives for other commodities such as pills, and injectables.

Want to learn more about Joan Amanda’s good work in her community? Contact her here:

Twitter: @JoanBanura
Email: abanura526@gmail.com