Social control measures for COVID-19 are reported to have increased violence and discrimination globally, including in Uganda as some measures were difficult to implement resulting in the heavy deployment of law enforcement. Media reports indicated that cases of violence and discrimination had increased in Uganda’s communities following the lock downs. We estimated the incidence and factors associated with experiencing violence and discrimination among Ugandans during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns to inform control and prevention measures.
Additionally, there was a sharp increase in gender-based violence (GBV) dubbed as “the shadow epidemic” alongside the COVID-19 epidemic globally. In Uganda, we assessed forms of violence or discrimination including physical violence at home, physical violence outside the home, discrimination because of social economic status and discrimination because of ethnicity, race or nationality.
The COVID-19 pandemic brought in its wake an unforeseen mental health crisis. The World Health Organization published a guideline as a way of supporting mental health and psychosocial well-being of different groups during the pandemic and the post-pandemic period.
Kuboresha-Africa conducted a post- pandemic survey in Mukono Municipality and discovered that a substantial proportion of people experienced mental illnesses, domestic violence, anxiety, depression and insomnia. The findings of this survey informed the decision to develop strategies to mitigate the collateral impact and damage caused by the pandemic in order to improve people’s well-being. The agreeable remedy was to provide mindset change education to these vulnerable communities who include all age categories male and female. For example there was a monthly increase of 149% in reports of GBV cases following the introduction of lockdowns at the end of March 2020 in Uganda.
KUBORESHA-AFRICA LIMITED 