This document outlines a consortium project between World Action Fund and Peace Corps Organisation Uganda to implement the Strengthening Rural Education for Teenagers (SRET) project in Arua District, Uganda over 20 months with a budget of UGX 120,000,000. The project aims to increase access, retention, and completion rates among teenagers in Arua District through awareness campaigns on sexual health and HIV/AIDS, teacher trainings, and media campaigns to address high rates of teenage pregnancy, school dropout, and HIV transmission. Key activities include peer education clubs, radio programs, health talks in schools, and trainings for teachers and teenagers.

1. Consortium Project
CONCEPT NOTE:
IMPLEMENTING ORGANIZATION: World Action Fund/Peace Corps Organisation Uganda
TITLE: Strengthening Rural Education for Teenagers (SRET).
LOCATION: In Arua District. (8 Sub Counties: Logiri, Aii-vu, Omugo, Rhino-Camp, Odupi,
Ayivuni, Uriama and Ullepi)
Period: 20 Months.
Estimated total Cost : UGX.120, 000,000 (USD 44,444.44)
Contact Person:
Mr. Peter Odama
World Action Fund
Chief Executive Director
P.O.BOX 1251 Arua, Uganda
Email: WAF.uganda@gmail.com
Cell phone +256 776167923/+256753927432
Mr. Ayaba Mustafa Kenyi
Executive Director
Peace Corps Orgaisation, Uganda
P.O.BOX 1251 Arua, Uganda
peacecorps@pcosouthsudan.org
peacecorpssudan@gmail.com
Cell phone +211926100371/+211929240054

2. Introduction:
Brief description of Peace Corps Organisation Uganda (PCOU) and World Action Fund
(WAF)
PCO-Uganda is one of the nation’s leading national humanitarian organizations, committed to
helping families amongst the most vulnerable communities improve their lives and achieve
lasting victories over poverty and suffering. It was registered and extended operations in Uganda
in October 2014 under Non-Governmental Organizations Registration ACT, CAP.113 of the
Republic of Uganda NGO Charity reg. No 10922, PCO been working in South Sudan and
registered in 2006 to provide relief to survivors of war, supporting basic education. PCO-
SOUTH SUDAN quickly became a tested and trusted vehicle for the compassion and generosity
of hundreds of thousands.
World Action Fund (WAF) is a non Governmental Organization (NGO) that is committed to
finding sustainable solutions to eradicate poverty, promote good Health, better Education,
sustainable Agriculture and peaceful co-existence. Founded in January 2011 and registered in
May 2014 under Non-Governmental Organisation Registration ACT, CAP.113 Reg No.10625.
WAF is more active in Arua district with some niche of activities in Zombo District (West Nile
sub-region) with core thematic areas of; Health, Education, Peace building, Advocacy, Civic
empowerment and Human rights, Research and communication and Innovative action oriented
Sustainable Agriculture. World Action Fund (WAF) has become a strong national level
organization united by purpose, mission, vision, values and principles. WAF has its Board of
Directors who initiates, consider and adopt policies and program. The Board is the policy-
making organ of the organization responsible for policy design. The Secretariat is the planning,
implementation and monitoring organ of the organization. It is headed by the Chief Executive
Director. The Chief Executive Director provides effective leadership and gives guidance to the
management for the smooth running of the organization affair. Most importantly, each program
thematic areas being managed by members of staff who have expertise in them.
About the Consortium Project: This consortium organization was set up to give hope to
teenagers and the community, to find a lasting chance to attain their education, to give them
relevance in life. The project will be monitored jointly and accounted for by both parties to the
donors
Back Ground:
In sub-Saharan African, 24% of teenage pregnancies occur at an age of 19. Sadly, the statistics
get worse in Uganda, the Population Secretariat indicates that of the 1.2 million pregnancies
recorded in Uganda annually, 25 per cent of these are teenage pregnancies and more than
300,000 teenagers who get pregnant also account for the bulk of unwanted pregnancies, which
end up in unintended births or abortion, high rate of drop outs in both primary secondary schools,
the effects spill over on to their health, economic and social status.
According to the Uganda Demographic Health survey 2011, about 14 per cent of young women
and 16 per cent of young men had their first sexual encounter before the age of 15 while 57 per
cent of young women had their first encounter before the age of 18. Early marriage, early
initiation of sex and lack of information, are said to be the leading drivers of adolescent

3. pregnancy. According to Dr Wilfred Ochan, the Assistant Country Representative United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) noted that lack of access to reproductive health information
supported with services, has led teenagers into early sex, while poverty and cultural practices
continue to force girls into early marriages.
UBOS 2011 statistics indicate that the number of teenage mothers in the West Nile sub region
shot from 3.7% in 2006 to 6.6% in 2011 despite several efforts by civil society to reverse the
trend. The situation is not any better in the other parts of the country. Recent media reports -
Daily Monitor further reported on June 24, 2013 that over 40,000 primary school children are
defiled by their teachers a year. This trend of events is worrying given that defilement is an
offence in Uganda. The Ministry of health has announced that HIV prevalence rates have more
than doubled over the last two years in the West Nile region standing at 4.9 percent up from 2.4
percent, the prevalence is high amongst women and continues to advance between young people
between the ages of 17-22 years
In most rural areas of Arua District (ANPPCAN 2013 Survey) indicated that sex education has
not been given the required attention in schools while parents fear to talk to their children about
sex and reproductive health. There also seems to be a distinctive link between poverty and early
pregnancies as data from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics shows that adolescents from poor
families are more likely to get pregnant. The pregnancy rate for adolescents from these families
stands at 41 per cent while that for adolescents from wealthier families is 17 per cent.
Problem Statement:
Arua District records a high number of teenage mothers with nearly one in every three
households recording a teen that has got pregnant or has had a child (APPCAN report 2013), this
was further noted during a visit to Arua Regional referral Hospital maternity ward with over 45%
of the deliveries being teenager who were below 18 years and mostly school drop outs due to
pregnancy. Teenage mothers and their families continue to face financial stress as they struggle
to cater for the health care of the mother and baby and also find themselves at more risk in
becoming victims in the country’s high infant and maternal mortality. This makes teenage
pregnancy enormously expensive and it is a phenomenon which has caught many families within
the vicious circle of poverty. The teenage pregnancies is associated with many social issues,
including early forced marriage, lower educational levels, higher rates of poverty, inadequate
basic education in the fundamentals of sexual and reproductive health, limited access to
affordable contraceptive options and other poorer life outcomes in children of teenage mothers.
This has caused social stigma in many communities ,increased HIV/Aids among these teenagers
who get Pregnant ,increased nutritional deficiencies among the pregnant teenagers, high dropout
rates in school, Poor academic performance in children of teenage mothers, many of them being
more likely than average to fail to graduate from primary and secondary school. This
unbecoming trend of increased teenage pregnancies, high school dropout rate of girl children,
increased HIV/Aids cases among the teenagers are caused by inadequate sex education by
parents, relaxed awareness about the dangers of premarital sex, unprotected sex has caused very
high teenage pregnancy and increased HIV/Aids prevalence rate in Arua District. World Action
Fund, therefore intend to revert this scenario through Strengthening Rural Education for
teenagers (SRET) project in Arua District.

4. Goal: The goal of Strengthening Rural Education for teenagers (SRET) project is to increase
access, retention and completion rates among teenagers in Arua District by 2019
Objectives
1. To create awareness among the Teenage in school and out of school for improved access,
retention and performance of girl child in school in 5 rural sub counties targeting 1000
teenagers in Arua District by 2019.
2. To advocate for HIV/AIDS health talk programs in schools through refresher trainings for
teachers on HI/AIDS integration in children’s learning in schools and establishing talking
compound on teenage pregnancies, substance abuse, and HIV/AIDS in 5 rural schools of
Arua District by 2019.
3. To strengthen sustainable citizens’ platforms that facilitates debate on increased community
awareness about teenage pregnancies and HIV/AIDS through love life campaign among the
youth in Arua District by 2019.
Activities:
1. Under take awareness campaign for teenagers both in school and out of school
(Formation of teenage Peer learning clubs, Out of school teenage league for sex education,
Radio sports, Radio talk shows, Peer debates on sex in schools, Establishment of talking
compound on sex, and HIV/AIDS, Formation of children poem clubs, Sex education .
2. Under take HIV/AIDS education in selected schools ( Health Talks/Educating young
people about HIV and AIDS, Awareness on sex and drug use among the teenagers,
Advocacy to include HIV/AIDS in morning Assembles in Schools and Orientation of senior
women teachers on HIV/AIDS and Teenage management in schools)
3. Conduct Teacher and Teenage training: Teenage and HIV/AIDS education requires
detailed discussions of subjects such as sex, death, illness and drug use. Teachers are not
likely to have experience dealing with these issues in class, and require specialized training
so that they are comfortable discussing them without letting personal values conflict with the
health needs of the students. Teacher training is fundamental to the successful delivery of sex
and AIDS education in schools. In addition teenagers need specialized trainings on
management of periods, good childhood and good parenting skills for those at pregnant.
4. Media Campaigns: HIV/ AIDS education advertisements, films, or announcements( Love
Life campaign using a variety of media to educate young people about HIV and AIDS,
Teenage pregnancy .The love Life campaign will display posters, billboards and used TVs
and music Dance and drama that are popular with young people, as an educational platforms
will be used.
Methodology:
Participatory methods will be employed and all project interventions will promote people
centered Advocacy by empowering teenagers, community leaders and teachers to engage with
duty bearers in ensuring access to quality services in Health Education at community level, good
parenting and access, retention and performance of children in schools. Feed back and advocacy
forum will be made available where teenagers out of school can dialogue with their leaders on
matters that hinder their right to education, peace and livelihood. The advocacy strategies to be

5. employed shall include; open air sensitization, radio programming, community dialogue and
research and publications. The citizens shall be mobilized to give feedback on service delivery
and nominate exemplary schools in their community.
Expected outcomes.
 Participating Sub county counties with improved access, retention and performance of
their teenage children in school.
 Knowledgeable teachers with skills to prevent sexual violence and reduced stigma among
positively living school in schools.
 Active and informed citizenry engaging with duty bearers in realizing quality education
for all children at household and community level.
Coverage:
The project will be implemented in Arua district. Eight sub-counties of Logiri, Aii-vu, Omugo,
Rihno-Camp, Odupi, Ayivuni, Uriama and Ullepi will be targeted for the project
implementation. The eight sub-counties are among those that have recorded high teenage cases,
high dropout rate, and poor performance in the 2014 primary leaving examination result and
have a number of government aided primary schools not covered by a number of interventions.
In each of the sub-county, three schools will be selected. The project is expected to take 24
months effective date of funding.
Management Capacity:
World Action Fund will work in collaboration with Arua district departments of Education,
Health and Community Based Services. Together with WAF staff, a technical team will be
constituted out of staff from the different departments as the project’s technical team. The
rationale is to help in building local capacity and further sustainability of the program. This will
be ensured by signing a memorandum of understanding for the assignment
The project will be spearheaded by technical Team of WAF; however, aware of the benefits of
synergies with local governments, both stakeholders will work in collaboration and partnership.
They will among others discuss technical standards proposed by WAF, hold termly coordination
meetings to review performance. Competent personnel from the local governments especially
Community Development Officers, Health Assistants, Education Officers will be involved in
facilitating trainings. However, WAF will remain responsible and accountable for the project.
WAF has competent and professional staff in the following fields; Finance and Administration,
Capacity Building, Education, Health Peace Building, Development and Quality Assurance.
They have wealth of experience to enable them effectively and efficiently manage the project.
Key assumptions
 School programs will not be interrupted
 Government will be committed to provide basic education
 There will be political and technical will from both elected and appointed leaders
 There will be Political stability in the country.

6. Risk Situation Mitigation Plan
Bad Cultural practices and religious beliefs  Targeted activities will be developed
targeting elders, religious leaders and some
organized clans with clear leadership
Holidays  Plan integrated activities for both in school
and out of school teenagers.
Other school programs  Having short training/work sessions (about
1 hour), once per week
 Synchronizing HIV/AIDS activities with
science /PE periods
Negative community attitude / Apathy of
communities
 Mobilization and Sensitization i.e.
advocacy
 Involvement of all stake holders in the
project activities (theatre forums)
Community participation if time consuming  The project will show case and demonstrate
benefits from participation.
Estimated budget for the implementation of this concept is One Hundred and Twenty
Million (120,000,000) for 20 months.