The Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic for Adolescent and Youth Reproductive Health in Northern Uganda (CONSCOV), a very exciting project, officially closed on January 28, 2026.

It was described by many as impactful given its results. Those who participated in the project gave compelling testimonies on how the project touched the lives of young people in Northern Uganda, as well as their own lives.

The project was conducted by a consortium comprising Gulu University, the University of Copenhagen (Københavns Universitet), Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU), and Gulu Regional Referral Hospital (GRRH). It was funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark through the Danida Fellowship Centre.

These are some of the testimonies given during the closing workshop:

Dr. Agatha Alidri, Project PI, Gulu University

CONSCOV was an amazing project. It was full of energy and vigour. When we go back to the schools, the kids still remember us. Some of them still give us phone calls. The health workers receive the most calls. We have come so far. Many times projects fail because they are armpit projects. In this project everyone mattered. Everyone was able to make decisions.

Research must change lives. It should not be too academic. It should have social impact.

It has been hard for researchers to engage with the media. Some researchers think it is a waste of money. We would go to the field with William [Odinga]. He would tow his line and we would tow ours. The output from this media engagement has been amazing.

Emily Uramba Kayeny, GRRH

What CONSCOV did has transformed the community. Health seeking was a problem for many youth and adolescents. As I speak now, they come to us confidently. In the hospital the number of adolescents increased. In a day we used to get eight or ten, but when we engaged in CONSCOV the numbers overwhelmed us. That is the impact CONSCOV has had on us.

Filda Anicia, RHU

CONSCOV taught us how to integrate services. As you diagnose and treat, you are also doing research. It also taught us home visits to see where and how our clients live and how to support them. As we visited them, we were able to impact their lives.

Richard Musasizi, GRRH

Dealing with adolescents requires patience if you are to get information from them. Someone, instead of telling you that “I have a wound on my genitals,” will say “I have a headache.” I see young health workers these days seeing patients with headsets in their ears — are you really listening to the patient?

Dealing with chronic illnesses, such as HIV, requires even more patience. You must put yourself in their shoes and listen to them. I often reflect on my mother. Mistreating a patient is equivalent to how my mother could be mistreated elsewhere.

The knowledge and skills we acquire through CONSCOV should not remain with us. We should share them with our fellow health workers.

Judith Ayaa, Gulu, GRRH

CONSCOV gave me a lot of experience that I will never forget. For example, there is much more about the aguu (socially excluded youth of Gulu City) than we previously thought. We were able to go down and serve them.

Dr. Stella Laloyo Apecu, Chief, Institute of Peace and Strategic Studies (IPSS), Gulu University

CONSCOV is doing community transformation. They have done a good job. They are transforming lives.

Prof. Susan Whyte, Project Co-PI, University of Copenhagen

There was no protocol that had to be absolutely followed. It was flexible. Children on the streets, and those in the Gulu Children’s Remand Home, for example, were not on the original plan. I thank the Ugandan colleagues for being flexible.

Samson Tumanye, GRRH

My role is to welcome adolescents, examine them, provide treatment and manage their conditions.

Some changes are needed to improve adolescent services, especially in health education, to counter misinformation and misconceptions and to improve health-seeking behaviour.

Some adolescents find it difficult to come to the hospital and often do not open up.

Adolescents also display adult-like characteristics, such as disliking long waiting times because they want to socialize with friends. Therefore, turnaround time at health facilities should be minimized.

How adolescents are handled matters, including staff conduct, dress code, and tone of communication but, most importantly, health education should continue both in health facilities and in communities.

Winnie Apio, GRRH

As a nurse, the way you communicate with a schooling adolescent is different from the way you communicate with one who is out of school. We learned open communication with our clients, improved time management, as well as collaboration and teamwork.

We now have a youth-friendly corner at GRRH. Our clinical room has only a clinician and one patient at a time. We have even displayed our contacts on the wall. They can now contact us 24/7.

Youth living with disabilities are usually neglected and isolated. Under CONSCOV we identified some and were able to give them treatment.

Dr. Denis Ofoyuru, Dean, Faculty of Education and Humanities

Knowledge that remains on the shelves of university libraries and in conference rooms cannot change lives. Research serves its true purpose when it is disseminated, understood, and put into practice. I am grateful to CONSCOV for undertaking dissemination.

Pamela Peace Okwir, Deputy Dean

At home there is weak parenting. Then they [students] come to the university where they are expected to be independent. We wish to see CONSCOV 2 attend to our university students even more than those in primary and secondary schools.

Juliet Chebet, Social Worker, GRRH

I have been sending out my client satisfaction forms and I have not encountered any problem with the adolescent clinic. I did not know the secret until I came here. I missed this project. In Phase 2 I want to be part of it.

What we learned

Filda Anicia, RHU

We learned that working in consortia is critical. What you cannot do, a partner can do. For example, we as health workers were not competent in research, but the university was.

Adolescents are prone to infections because they lack knowledge. In schools, kids share towels. That alone can transfer infections.

There is a need to support socially excluded youth. If you do not support them, it can come back to affect society.

We also learned that the media is very important. We received a lot of feedback from the community.

Dr. Agatha Alidri, Gulu University

What we learned as academia is that without involving the community as partners, the university is incomplete. We also learned that there is sometimes more knowledge in the community than in academia.