Youth counsellors in Uganda are supporting adolescents through telephone counselling, helping them access sexual and reproductive health information and services to end teenage pregnancy.
Dedicated counsellors ending teenage pregnancy
Rose* is a youth toll-free telephone counsellor and receives close to 15 calls a day from young people on health and other issues. Her counselling sessions are helping young people to take bold steps towards ending unwanted teenage pregnancy in Kamuli and Buyende districts.
Rose’s engagement in telephone counselling dates back to 2022 when she underwent a 2-week training course that equipped her with skills such as active listening, empathy, compassion, patience, emotional resilience, confidentiality and ethical telephone conduct.
Rose is one of the 12 telephone counsellors supporting the public to access information regarding health and social issues. She is assigned to handle calls related to the Bold Step project, a project which aims to end unwanted teenage pregnancy in Kamuli and Buyende districts.
Her work schedule runs from Monday to Friday, between 8am and 5pm. On scheduled days, she also picks up calls offsite up to 11pm. “We mostly receive calls from out-of-school adolescents around midday while those in school tend to call after 4pm,” says Rose. “I receive about 15 calls a day from young people in the age range of 10-19 years, seeking for support and information on issues regarding sexuality, menstruation, sexual and gender-based violence, family planning, misconceptions, and HIV infections among others,” says Rose.
“I receive about 15 calls a day from young people on issues of sexual and reproductive health.”
Rose, Telephone Counsellor
Young girls dominate calls
Rose adds that young girls dominate the calls. They call about a range of things including teenage pregnancy issues, family planning and sexual abuse.
“The callers remain anonymous which gives them an opportunity to open up on these issues. At the end of our conversation, I make referrals, depending on the issue, for young people to access appropriate services and support,” says Rose. “One time a mother called asking me to speak to her daughter who had refused to continue with school. I linked her up with the project field officers who located their home and spoke to the daughter.“
Follow ups make a difference
Rose notes that she regularly makes follow-ups on the cases she has handled and has always received good feedback. “I called the mother of the teenager who had refused to go to school, and she informed me the girl had resumed with her education,” says Rose. Rose adds that counsellors feel encouraged and motivated when they learn that an issue has been resolved and that their support made a real difference.
Her linguistic abilities enable her to effectively support young people from diverse backgrounds in the fight against unwanted pregnancy. “I can speak English, Lusoga, and Luganda fluently, so I am able to understand and support callers in a language they are comfortable with,” she explains.
Partnering for bold milestones
Julius Ssekinkuse – a counselling psychologist and project coordinator at Communication for Development Foundation Uganda – the institution that established the toll-free call centre in 2009, says the centre has 12 professional counsellors with backgrounds in public health, clinical psychology, and nursing. This makes it a reliable and youth-friendly space to get accurate information and support to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
He adds that the centre uses a strong referral system to address cases related to family planning, rape, defilement and gender-based violence among others. “We collaborate closely with male action groups, the child and family protection unit, law enforcement officers, health facilities and religious and cultural leaders to ensure young people get the support and services they need to prevent unwanted pregnancies,” says Julius.
“The centre has received over 3,000 callers in the past 12 months regarding issues of the Bold Step project including ending teenage pregnancy, family planning methods, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV infections among others,” says Julius.
About Bold Step project
Launched in 2023, with funding from the European Union, the 30-month Bold Step project is being implemented by Plan International Uganda in partnership with Communication for Development Foundation Uganda across Kamuli and Buyende districts with the aim of preventing unwanted teenage pregnancies.
The project is targeting adolescents in the age range of 12-19 years, civil society organisations, teenage parents, caregivers, health workers, village health teams and cultural and religious leaders as key agents in achieving its goals.
*Name changed to protect identity
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