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Uganda Health and Science Press Association (UHSPA Uganda), a registered LGBTI network of groups and individuals working to mainstream minorities rights to health into Uganda’s Public health policies and laws, welcomes government’s commitment to meaningful engagement with leaders of sexual minorities groups advocating for the Rights to Health in the last one year under review. UHSPA also works to end homophobia, transphobia, media defamation and hate crimes on LGBTI persons. While a number of homosexuals shunned public health facilities in the year under review for fear of being arrested due to the Anti Homosexuality Bill 2009 tabled in the 8th Parliament,government’s interest in engaging with sexual minorities is a notable step in the right direction. Sexual minorities, particularly Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transgender and Intersex continue to face enormous challenges in access to care, support, treatment and information, especially on HIV prevention in Uganda. Given that homosexual...

Uhspa director, Kikonyogo Kivumbi giving the mayor of Houston, Texas an African drum at Hilton America's Hotel in Houston,Texas, December 2,2011.  Mr. Kikonyogo told Ms Annise Parker, an open Lesbian leader herself that Ugandan homosexuals are denied the right to health in public health facilities for who they. He encouraged Houston to open up sister relationships with Ugandan towns and city to promote health care for the poor and marginalised

U0PAJKjhjBw/TtoX_osO5cI/AAAAAAAAAYg/U1SI9VX123w/s1600/NYOKO.JPG"> UHSPA Uganda activists are in Houston Texas to drum global attention for the East African HIV Bill due for tabling in the East African Legislative Assembly. The activists led by Uhspa director, Kikonyogo Kivumbi met a number of elected US officials from various states at a meeting in Houston, Texas. They include Ms Jay Abang and Mr. Eriya Kamya. The activists want the US elected politicians to prevail over their government to encourage the member countries of East African Community streamline gay rights to health in the East African management bill. Mr. Kikonyogo told the meeting that East African HIV prevalence was high among gay people because their governments are reluctant to designing specific programmes targeting GAY PEOPLE. The meeting attracted allies from Canada, Polland, Argentina, Venezuela, Colombia among other countries

ACTIVIST FLAVIA KYOMUKAMA TRAINING LGBTIS ON HEALTH LOBBYING DURING UHSPA WORKSHOP A motion moved on October 25,2011 to resurrect all bills that were shelved in the 8th Parliament means that the HIV/AIDS Control Bill is coming back and will be read for the first time in the 9th parliament for the first time before christmas break. But we are ready. We have recently been training each other on advanced lobbying What we did in the eighth parliament (flash back) Friends of Uhspa Uganda recently held a party to celebrate the intensive lobbying efforts for the last one year that yielded in the Parliament of Uganda dropping the HIV/AIDS Control Bill 2010, which alienated LGBTI rights to health as a Public Health Right. The Party held at Uhspa office gardens was wow!!. Mr Kikonyogo Kivumbi, the Uhspa Director and Ms Prossy Ssonko, a Board Member and Treassurer thanked the members and partners for the continued partnership to address unfair legislations. Mr. Kikonyogo said the expiry of the HI...

A Ugandan army officer has successfully brought a motion in Parliament which will have the Anti Homosexuality Bill 2009 re-tabled, without having to consult Cabinet The officer, Sarah Mpaabwa, an army representative in Parliament said all bills and reports that were shelved in Uganda’s eighth Parliament should be saved and re-tabled for discussion. Uganda’s parliament has 333 MPs and is the only parliament in East Africa that has serving army officers as members. The government insists that army officers add value to parliament and bring stability to the country’s politics. The passing of the motion means that David Bahati, the legislator who tabled the globally infamous “kill the gays” bill will not require Cabinet’s approval to table the anti-homosexual bill again. The Ugandan Cabinet recently said that it had rejected the bill, tabled by as private member’s bill. But Bahati quickly reminded Cabinet that they had no powers over his bill, because it was a property of the Parliament of...

Gay rights activists in Uganda have started consultations with HIV/Aids and human rights organisations about the proposed East African Community HIV and Aids Prevention and Management Bill, 2010. The activists have been spurred by the fact that the East African Community Council (EAC) of Legal and Judicial Affairs will be meeting next week to develop opinion on the gay friendly East African HIV/Aids bill and advise their home governments. The meeting taking place in Arusha, Tanzania will be attended by the Attorneys General and Justice Ministers of the five East African Community member countries of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. The outcomes shall set discussions for the EAC Council of Ministers set for the second week of November which will be attended by amongst others Uganda’s Minister for EAC Eriya Kategaya. The ministers will be expected to make executive recommendations to the bill which will be tabled in March 2012. Julius Sabuni, a member of the Eastern African N...

Who is Maria Kiwanuka ( pictured above)? Business Written by Moses Talemwa Sunday, 29 May 2011 17:07 New Finance Minister, Maria Kiwanuka In her, the ministry of Finance will get an expert with lots of hands on experience in economics, business, banking and finance It is in Radio One’s newsroom that one can truly understand the character of Maria Kiwanuka. As aggressively as one can imagine, she would summon editors to her office, where she would give them a piece of her mind. Her criticism, just like her praise, is delivered in the most bold way possible. At that station, where she is still a General Manager, Maria Kiwanuka has a strong spite for incompetence and a revered drive for perfectionism. But even for her unwavering attempt to meet high standards, it would not be far-fetched to argue that Maria Kiwanuka’s nomination as the next Minister of Finance could have caught her, and many more, by surprise. Only less than two months ago, President Yower...

Daily Monitor story:http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/-/688334/1223104/-/bjwa2vz/-/index.html Cabinet has finally thrown out the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, 2009 on the advice of Mr Adolf Mwesige, the ruling party lawyer. However, Ndorwa West MP David Bahati ( pictured above), the architect of the Bill, insists the proposed legislation is now property of Parliament and that the Executive should stop “playing hide- and- seek games” on the matter. The decision to throw out the Anti-Homosexuality Bill was made at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday where Mr Mwesige, according to sources, told ministers that the Bill was unnecessary since government has a number of laws in place criminalising homosexual activities. “We agreed that government should search the law archives and get some of the laws, enforce them rather than having another new piece of legislation,” a source said. “He [Mwesige] said the Bill is overtaken by events and that donors and other sections of the public were ...

Behind the Mask story The newly appointed boss of Ghana’s Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Lauretta Lamptey has said she will not fight for the rights of homosexuals as the law deems their activities to be criminal. Lamptey (pictured above) also said that the argument on Gay rights should be a legal discourse, rather than about human rights saying, “The main point that I wanted to make is that the debate has been about rights and that I think the real issue is the legal side of things and that it doesn’t make sense to me. There is some illogic in arguing for increased rights for homosexuals and at the same time saying that by law homosexuality is a criminal offence. How can we say it is criminal and then you want (CHRAJ) to go and protect the very activity that is criminal?” She added “in my view I don’t think as a society we are ready to give homosexuals, lesbians, that whole category of people any of those kind of rights”. When she first took ...

The East African Community HIV and AIDS Prevention and Management Bill, 2010 1 THE EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY HIV AND AIDS PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT BILL, 2010 ARRANGEMENT OF CLAUSES Clause PART I-PRELIMINARY 1-Short title. 2-Interpretation. 3-Application. 4- Objects and purposes of Act. 5- General duty of persons. 6- General duty of the Government. PART II – HIV AND AIDS INFORMATION, EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION 7- HIV and AIDS education and information. 8- HIV and AIDS education in learning institutions. 9- HIV and AIDS education and information as a health care service. 10- HIV and AIDS education and information at the work place. 11- HIV and AIDS education and information and the media. 12- HIV and AIDS education and information in communities. PART III – HIV AND AIDS PREVENTION MEASURES, PRACTICES AND PROCEDURES 13- Prevention measures by Government. 14- Testing of donated bodily products. 15- Prevention of mother-to-child transmission. 16- Guidelines on surg...

Uhspa activist, Nakiganda ( facing camera) addresses the government committee at Ministry of Health Headquarters, April 27,2011. Uhspa's Kikonyogo Kivumbi(in white shirt)at the meeting. In a rare change of heart, the government of Uganda has appointed Uhspa-Uganda to a high profile committee on streamling Health,Human Rights and Gender Rights within Uganda's Public Health Policies and Laws. The committee sitting at Ministry of Health Headquarters brings together a cross section of government institutions and activists.

Ms Hasifa Nakiganda, Uhspa Lobby officer and Mr Kikonyogo Kivumbi before the committee in Parliament UHSPA Executive Director, Kikonyogo Kivumbi and Lobby officer, Ms Hasifa Nakiganda told Ugandan Legislators sitting on the Legal and Parliamentary Committee of Ugandan Parliament that the Anti Homosexuality Bill 2009 introduced in Parliament by Hon. David Bahati undermines efforts in access to HIV Programming by LGBTI people in Uganda as a public health right enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Right to which Uganda is a signatory. While appearing before the committee on April 12,2011 at Parliament House in Kampala, Mr Kikonyogo said Uganda risked creating a briding population of new infections if LGBTI people were intentionally kept off the health access radar on the basis of their sexual orientation. Ms Nakiganda said since the bill was introduced in Parliament, with clauses requiring medical doctors to report their gay clients, by virtue of informa...

Earlier campaign:Uhspa members and partners demonstrate through Kawempe division,opposing the HIV/AIDS criminalisation law on Dec1,2010 . Friends of Uhspa Uganda recently held a party to celebrate the intensive lobbying efforts for the last one year that yielded in the Parliament of Uganda dropping the HIV/AIDS Control Bill 2010, which alienated LGBTI rights to health as a Public Health Right. The Party held at Uhspa office gardens was wow!!. Mr Kikonyogo Kivumbi, the Uhspa Director and Ms Prossy Ssonko, a Board Member and Treassurer thanked the members and partners for the continued partnership to address unfair legislations. Mr. Kikonyogo said the expiry of the HIV Bill with the 8th Parliament on April 13,2011 was commendable, and thanked all the Kuchus who turned up to take the petition and memorundum containing the views of LGBTI community to the Parliamentary Social Services Committee on April 8,2011. He said LGBTIs are the only Ugandans who have no right to Post Exposure Prophy...

Uhspa staff holding placards at Refugee Law Project Officers in Old Kampala before the start of the matching through the streets of Kampala, on April 28,2011 calling for an end to violence and persecution, especially against LGBTI for who they are. Mr Chris Dolan, the Refugee Law Project Director,who organised the week long events,including exhibitions at the national theratre in Kampala, said institutionalised persecution and violence was a big problem in Uganda. Other human rights activists from various organisations joined the march. UHSPA CALLS ON GOVERNMENT TO promote the Rights of LGBTI to health access,care and support in Uganda

JOINT STATEMENT BY LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER AND INTERSEXUAL (LGBTI) PERSONS ON HIV AND AIDS PREVENTION AND CONTROL BILL, 2010 AIDS is no longer [just] a disease. It is a human rights issue — Nelson Mandela When we discuss a contentious subject like homosexuality, we need to do so recognising that we are talking about human beings…We also need to realise that we live in a large world, not a narrow Uganda…(in) my opinion as a pediatrician and medical doctor who has studied the subject of homosexuality, I can tell you that homosexuality is not an acquired condition. — Dr. Munini Mulera Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world. — Universal Declaration of Human Rights This memorandum is by the Uganda Health and Science Press Association(UHSPA-Uganda) which is a registered LGBTIQ network of groups and individuals that work to promote health rights of ...