Uganda National Advisory Centre for Men conducted a safe male circumcision campaign in the Gulu region with support from USAID. The campaign involved mobilizing communities through health education in schools and communities. Over 8,000 men and boys were sensitized and over 950 were referred for circumcision. Challenges included weather, lack of school approval, and language barriers. Recommendations include sensitizing school administrators and translating materials to local languages. Future activities will continue mobilization and conduct a health safety audit dialogue.

1. UGANDA NATIONAL ADVISORY CENTRE FOR
MEN
UPDATE REPORT ON SMCS/BCC

2. REPORT PRESENTED BY: OCAKA MKE
Organisation Profile
Uganda National Advisory Centre for Men is a peak
communication organization for men and we
focus on human security ,education, health for
men, research and advocacy, peace economy, legal
advice /social protection and domestic violence
prevention through creative use of law as a
positive force for social change by engaging men
in public dialogue discussion on issues affecting
men and

3. REPORT PRESENTED BY: OCAKA MKE
women at community level, objectively produce
detail analytical report and advice to men and
women through scorecard governance and safety
audit activities and support through legal
representation and empowerment for a
conducive stress free environment
Our Vision
• Every family members in a home lives happily in a
healthy and equally protected environment

4. INTRODUCTION CONT’S
Our Mission
• To protect, question and anticipate the future by
giving early warning to both men and women on
issues that adversely affects the environment.
Our Core Values
• Committed
• Transparent
• Accountable

6. Introduction
• Post war and conflict recovery is still a serious challenge due to LRA
(Lord Resistance Army) insurgency who had wrecked havoc among
men population in the region destroying properties and over a period
of time and particularly Acholi sub region had suffered from the
instability of individual peace economy and stability as a result of the
war nearly 90% men lost most of their personal properties, wealth,
family breakages and increase poverty among men.
• Despite government and humanitarian intervention effort to support
men through male involvement activities in the region, there
intervention barely had no immediate impact as the male partners to
women were being left out while they languish with no hope, no
good formal education, lack skills, having hard time creating ties with
family and friends, drugs abuse and other substance use as part of
their daily activities. Men find it very difficult to adjust, given the
psychological state of adaptations in the older days compared to the
current situation which is often maladaptive leaving men to become
hopeless and with reckless lifestyle.

7. However predominantly women have proven to be more
resilience to problems than male partners and have good
coping mechanism by accepting there social-economic health
problems and strive so hard to make ends meet by
supporting their family, instate for men it is reveres action as
they take a tendency of shunning their obligation and losing
their power to women to take full charge and control of
families and UNAM have highlighted some of the key
challenges being faced by men in the region.
• Chronic Poverty among the men,
• Poor Health conditions for men,
• Food Insecurity and stability,
• Malnourishment among men
• Poor accommodation for men,
• Gender discrimination especially among the male partners
• Sexual gender abuse to men
• Poor Family/parenting ,spouse and children abuse

8. UNAM OVERALL STRATEGY FOR MEN ON HIV/AIDS
PREVENTION
• Within this project our advocacy is centered on the rights to
access to treatment, care and protection for men with a
comprehensive communication package and advocacy to
encourage men to share their experiences with each other
and willing to socialize in groups thus it will be an important
element and valuable avenue for men to challenge their
traditional notions of manhood and this will also allow men
build connections with other men, and to explore more
positive dimensions of health challenges, in addition to also
allow men to express their dissatisfaction with dysfunctional
prevailing norms. Improving men’s understanding of their
own motivations, fears and desires, their ability to broach
topics relating to Health , UNAM shall use a variety of
educational methods to motivate men by providing IEC
materials, displaying the various methods available, showing
films or slides on health and social-economic benefits.

9. UNAM frame work to involve men as clients, partners and
agent for change will be encourage and enforced by use
personal health messages on HIV/AIDs in order to meet
their own needs and to reduce HIV/AIDS burden on men
themselves. These line activities will reflect recognition
of men’s health needs in order to have a positive change
as allies in achieving better HIV/AIDS prevention for their
sexual partners. In addition UNAM strategy by bringing
men on board and women as allies will reflect men’s
roles as primary health decision makers in the family and
recognizes men’s greater access to health information
and resources. UNAM will use this approach and
condense it so that men who are in a relationship can be
encourage by other fellow men to communicate openly
with their partners and UNAM strategy is to reach out to
men as primary gatekeepers and decision makers in
communities thus creating support in the community for
male participation.

10. These programs explicitly call for critical
understanding of gender roles and the
recognition that male involvement needs to go
beyond ‘involving’ men by motivating them to
actively address gender inequities thus by
teaching fellow men to often abandon painful
and self defeating health strategies, and how to
develop different attitudes for dealing with
life's problems

12. Report summary
Uganda National Advisory Centre for Men have conducted a
comprehensive safe male circumcision campaign for Gulu regional
referral hospital with support from USAID –SUATATIN programme and
attachment of one staff from UNAM to help TASO Gulu and NUHITES
under safe male circumcision progarmme and the mobilization was
conducted between 2nd July- August 2013 in the district of Amuru,
Nwoya and Gulu respectively.
UNAM comprehensive mobilization involve a Tailor made approach
while communicating to men and the young boys and we use 3
approaches that focus on safety audit on health , reproductive health
education especially for the young boys in post primary and
secondary schools and the speech therapy and motivational talk
which is inspirational that UNAM emphasizes on its ongoing
activities in order to create a concrete health awareness-raising to
build self-confidence among the men and boys ,In addition it
contributes to the expansion of choices for men on how to manage
their personal health problems in order to increase access to quality
health service and uptake.

13. UNAM SMCs mobilization and sensitization
focused on behavioral changed
communication for men to adopt some of the
good health seeking behaviour and during the
sensitization of the boys in schools and men
in communities, important questions were
raised during the mobilization for example
the importance of SMCs and its Challenges ,
why get circumcised if found to be HIV
Positive , can I have sex without condom if
circumcised. And other additional myth on
the SMCs for example issues on sexual
dissatisfaction and reduction among men.

14. STATISTICS OF INSTITUTION VISITED.
NAME POPULATION NO REFFERED 4
SMC’S
FOLLOW
UP
Trinity College 650 92 558
Alliance High
School
475 81 394
Gulu College 375 61 318
Gulu Central 781 61 683
Gulu City 145 15 130
Gulu Comprehensive 161 21 140

15. STATISTICS OF INSTITUTION VISITED.
NAME POPULATION NO REFFERED 4
SMC’S
FOLLOW
UP
Cream Land 352 0 352
St Joseph 421 132 289
Unity Vocation 561 0 561
Koro Vocation 456 82 375
Laboro CW 471 61 410
Onono Memo 278 34 244

17. STATISTICS OF INSTITUTION VISITED Contin.
NAME POPULATION NO REFFERED 4
SMC’S
FOLLOW
UP
Keyo SS 558 91 467
Negri College 591 0 591
Koch Goma 376 0 376
Koch Ongako 481 23 458
Total 8224 953 7272

18. Achievements
• Conducted 5 community film van shows in Opit
centre, Cuk pa oweka , Koro and kabedopong.
• Conducted safe male circumcision sensitization
in 18 secondary schools.
• 5 DJ mentions conducted on SMCs in Amigo
Night club.
• Conducted 1 film show on SMCs Labora
common wealth school.

19. Challenges
• Bad weather affected the entire SMCs
sensitization.
• Schools directors and head master could not allow
the students to be sensitized.
• SMC video shown to community had a English
version and made it very difficult to translates the
entire episodes because of time factors .
• Exams period greatly affected the SMCs campaign
in most schools.
• S.4 male candidates in most school missed out the
benefit of SMCs

20. RECOMMENDATION
1. All the head teachers and directors of privates
and government headed school must be sensitize
on the importance of SMCs.
2. SMC video from ministry of health should be
translated in to the local language
NEXT PLANNED ACTIVITIES
1. Continues SMCs mobilization and referral of
men for Gulu referral hospital and other partners
2. Conduct one day health safety audit public
dialogue on the role of men in fight against
HIV/Aids at Gulu University and Unyama NTC for
1st year students.

26. • Therefore I call for affirmative actions for men to
help redirect the positions of men in our society
through psychosocial support, health for the
family, legal advice and prevention of sexual
Gender Base Violence for a peaceful and equally
protect environment
Apwoyo Matek
Ocaka Mike
On Behalf of Executive Director , Kirama Obina
Lanyero