Family Planning Services in Bwindi

This report shares an update on Conservation Through Public Health’s (CTPH) GlobalGiving project “Family Planning Services in Bwindi” (#67801). Our last report was published in May 2026 when $1,600 had been raised. As of September 2026, the campaign has now raised $1,631 toward the $50,000 goal, representing approximately 3.3% of the target.

Why This Project Matters

Families living near Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP) continue to face significant challenges, including poverty, large family sizes, and limited access to health services. Although Uganda has made progress in voluntary family planning uptake nationally, remote rural communities such as those around Bwindi still face barriers related to access, information, and supply shortages.

CTPH works directly with frontline communities through its One Health and Model Household approaches to increase access to voluntary family planning services. Through trained Village Health and Conservation Teams (VHCTs), a community based volunteer team of 430 members (51% females) CTPH delivers household-level behaviour change communication addressing myths, misconceptions, and fears surrounding family planning methods, referring clients to health facilities for additional reproductive health services, promoting male engagement and family dialogue on reproductive health decision-making every quarter to help families make informed reproductive health decisions. This contributes not only to improved family health and wellbeing but also supports biodiversity conservation by reducing pressure on fragile forest ecosystems and wildlife habitats.

What Has Changed

More Families Are Choosing Voluntary Family Planning

The number of households voluntarily using family planning services has steadily increased since 2022:

• 42% in 2022
• 50% in 2023
• 51% in 2024
• 51% in 2025
• 53% in 2026

As of September 2026, approximately 5,671 households out of the 10,700 households reached through CTPH programs across 59 frontline villages around Bwindi are voluntarily using modern family planning services. This represents 53% of households reached and reflects continued growth in voluntary family planning uptake through CTPH’s integrated One Health approach. Despite challenging terrain and limited health infrastructure, VHCTs continue to play a critical role in ensuring that even the most marginalized households can access reproductive health information and services.

Tackling the Biggest Challenge: Family Planning Supply Shortages

Limited and inconsistent family planning supplies remain the biggest challenge affecting communities around Bwindi, despite the growing demand and willingness among women and families to adopt voluntary family planning methods.

To address this challenge, CTPH has continued engagements with Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU) headquarters to establish a partnership that can strengthen access to reliable family planning supplies and reproductive health services for communities around Bwindi. Early this month, CTPH representatives visited RHU headquarters to follow up on the proposed partnership. The team was received by Mr Sekito, Logistics and Supplies Manager. The team shared the partnership proposal with the Director of Programmes who promised to follow up and provide feedback.

The engagement provided important clarity on RHU’s commodity distribution arrangements. Mr Sekito explained that RHU headquarters has not been receiving family planning commodities over the past three years; instead, supplies are sent directly to regional clinics, which are replenished based on utilisation reports. The RHU facility in Mbarara was identified as the nearest facility that could potentially support CTPH’s work around Bwindi. This engagement marks a concrete step closer to the proposed CTPH-RHU partnership. The next steps are to follow up with the Director of Programmes on RHU’s response, agree on the areas of collaboration, and work toward developing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

CTPH remains grateful to all GlobalGiving donors and supporters whose contributions continue to strengthen community health, improve livelihoods, and support long-term conservation outcomes around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Continued support through the GlobalGiving campaign will help CTPH respond to the growing demand for voluntary family planning services while efforts to strengthen commodity supply partnerships continue.