The Addressing Neglected Areas of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Sub-Saharan Africa (ANeSA) Initiative A situational analysis of the adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) landscape in Southwestern and Northern Uganda

Adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) remains a critical public health concern in Uganda, a country with one of the youngest populations globally, and where adolescents aged 10–19 years accounted for 25% of the total population (1). Nationally, 25% of girls aged 15–19 and 1% of those under 15 had already begun childbearing in 2016 (2). The prevalence of teenage pregnancy among in-school girls increased from 1.8% before the pandemic to 11.6% during the COVID-19 school closures, which heightened adolescents’ exposure to sexual violence, early marriage, and unprotected sex (3,4). The drivers of early pregnancy include entrenched gender inequality, school dropout, lack of safe spaces for adolescents to express their needs, and limited access to contraception and accurate reproductive information (5).