Category: Blog

HIV is spread only in certain body fluids from a person infected with HIV. These fluids are blood, semen, pre-seminal fluids, rectal fluids, vaginal fluids, and breast milk. HIV is spread mainly by having sex or sharing injection drug equipment, such as needles, with someone who has HIV.

To reduce your risk of HIV infection, use condoms correctly every time you have vaginal, oral, or anal sex.

Don’t inject drugs. If you do, use only sterile injection equipment and water and never share your equipment with others.

If you don’t have HIV but are at high risk of becoming infected with HIV, talk to your health care provider about pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). PrEP involves taking a specific HIV medicine every day to reduce the risk of HIV infection.

Key Populations Uganda in collaboration with Kuchushiners Uganda will be hosting a valentines day fundraising event, where the proceeds from the event will cater for the young Marginalized taking on skilling from institutes and rejuvenating the already dilapidated Kuchu home housing those rejected by their parents, and the homeless youths due to their sexuality, here we share a few tips for all youths more so the Marginalized and sex workers categories as our major focus, drawing down a few tips on how to reduce the risk of getting HIV/AIDS as the KPs are the most at risk Populations.

Through this fundraising event we will carry out awareness, as partnership with many health providers, who will give voluntary HIV testing during the event and other Non profits have come up to distribute condoms and availing in place placards  showing information on how one can protect themselves from HIV /AIDS and how the positive persons can live a responsible life coupled with inspiring others to protect themselves.

Anyone can get HIV, but you can take steps to protect yourself from HIV infection, through the following:

• Get tested and know your partner’s HIV status. Talk to your partner about HIV testing and get tested before you have sex.
• Have less risky sex. HIV is mainly spread by having anal or vaginal sex without a condom or without taking medicines to prevent or treat HIV.
• Use condoms. Use a condom correctly every time you have vaginal, anal, or oral sex.
• Limit your number of sexual partners. The more partners you have, the more likely you are to have a partner with HIV whose HIV is not well controlled or to have a partner with a sexually transmitted disease (STD. Both of these factors can increase the risk of HIV transmission. If you have more than one sexual partner, get tested for HIV regularly.
• Get tested and treated for STDs. Insist that your partners get tested and treated too. Having an STD can increase your risk of becoming infected with HIV or spreading it to others.
• Talk to your health care provider about pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). PrEP is an HIV prevention option for people who don’t have HIV but who are at high risk of becoming infected with HIV. PrEP involves taking a specific HIV medicine every day..
• Don’t inject drugs. But if you do, use only sterile drug injection equipment and water and never share your equipment with others.

The Young KPs gathered in for a community dialogue Organized by Key Population Uganda and supported by the Reach Out Mbuya Community based organization, which is doing all it can serving the most at-risk populations and providing HIV/AIDS Care to the KPs living positively.
The mayor needs raised were the need for regular check-ups for the KPs, peer training’s for those based in their communities, forming support groups, and extending of Drop-in centers to slum populated areas, with a great number of Sex-workers.

It was a successful Fundraising Event but with obstacles at the same time, here is how to think of how this fundraising was important to the hosting and Organizing partners.
This Fundraising forced KP Uganda as an Organization to take a step back and think about how we are going to accomplish the set projects, without resources, and in the needed time frames.  Whether it be by filling out an onerous grant application or donor prospect asking you for your five-year plan, almost always organizations will need to have some sort of planning in place to ask for support and be successful in attaining it.

This  Fundraising made us see where we are vulnerable.

In the process of planning and asking the question of how we are going to accomplish a project, as an Organization realized the gaps we have in terms of resources toward meeting the organizational goals. Identifying weaknesses and vulnerabilities in the organizational structure was a critical step in strengthening the Key Population organization.
The Fundraising made us as Organizations work as teams and align with our goals having Organized the Valentines Event with our partner Organization Kuchu shiners Uganda Often, Organizational staff and volunteers are disjointed by project areas. Fundraising acts as a glue for different project areas, unifying the team and its different project goals into one holistic mission.

Fundraising has made us prioritize projects. Prioritizing where to allocate precious resources is a constant struggle for Organizational managers. Who wants to pick between two different programs at the same time, so Prioritizing is a must.

During the United Nations Population Fund – ESARO Regional Youth Consultation that happened in Johannesburg, South Africa, Key Populations Uganda team leader Ivan represented KPU being a youth-led Organization and having him as an expert in Sexual Reproductive Health Rights.

His role included:

• (i) Co-defining Youth-Led Accountability and what it means for activism in the region,
• (ii) Sharing stories of different Youth-Led Accountability approaches that had young people sharing responsibility in identifying the barriers in holding decision-makers accountable

Through the community Dialogue we held at our office premises, Marginalized youths focused to sharing experiences on to Sexual Reproductive Health issues, rates of sexually-transmitted infections are increasing and these infections disproportionately burden Marginalized people.

In addition, transgender women continue to face high discrimination, from the experiences shared, Sex worker’s shared no far from the same Huddle’s faced.

#HIV was at the center stage throughout the dialogue coupled with STDs , young people require more access to Sexual Reproductive Health information for to take more informed decision about there sexuality.

On 18th November, Key Populations Uganda with organised a dialogue with refugees youths tackling the Sustainable Development Goal 16 Creating harmonization among youths with refugees counter parts , under the CIVICUS World Alliance #TogetherWeSpeak campaign. Starting.
The dialogue enabled sharing experiences from youths especially the refugees youths from Congo and South Sudan, about their experiences, while in camps and the huddles that they go through to
make ends meet.
As many Refugees have been resettled in Uganda, many Ugandans are rising up with negative sentiments towards the Refugees with excuses of being responsible for grabbing their land.

Its from this background that some policy makers took advantage and try to push for laws that do not welcome Refugees to Uganda, with requests to return many to their countries, its from this point of situation that Key Population Uganda, organized a dialogue to exchange ideas document and have experiences put on paper for the policy makers to see the negative implication of such unfavorable laws