The first AIDS case in sub-Saharan Africa was diagnosed in Greater Masaka Region in particular Rakai District of Uganda in 1982 (Serwadda et al. 1985). And in the early 1990s, the disease has become an epidemic in many countries of the region, concentrated in the subregions of central, eastern and southern Africa.

According to the 2020 UNAIDS Annual Report, HIV prevalence in Uganda is almost four times higher among young women aged 15 to 24 than young men of the same age. The issues faced by this demographic include gender-based violence (including sexual abuse) and a lack of access to education, health services, social protection and information about how they cope with these inequities and injustices. Indeed, young Ugandan women who have experienced intimate partner violence are 50% more likely to have acquired HIV than women who had not experienced violence.

PAPIRUDEI is running a project addressing the need to avail 500 young women affected with the epidemic from Greater Masaka Region with life supporting skills to fight stigma, discrimination and empower them with their lively hoods and income generating activities through tailoring, bakery activities and production of soup and sanitizers so as to adopt a pro-life and positive attitude and to face the future with hope and confidence.

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