The Archbishop of Church of Uganda, The Most Rev Dr Stephen Samuel Kaziimba Mugalu has said family planning is more than just contraceptives.

The man of God was on November 9, 2021 hosting a team from Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU) and Partners in Population and Development Africa Regional Office (PPDARO) at his pastoral home in Namirembe, Kampala when made the remark.

“Some people often narrow family planning to the use of contraceptives & reproductive health but it goes way beyond that. It looks at what you are feeding your family, how prepared you are to look after it, your sources of income, sustainability, etc. There is need for a holistic view of family planning.” The Archbishop said.

The team had presented a fact sheet about integrating population dynamics in reproductive health and about engaging church leaders about issues on Family planning, contraceptives and teenage pregnancies.

The Archbishop applauded RHU and partners for the work being done, especially engaging and training Church of Uganda Staff in Family Planning. He encouraged the partners to package the [SRHR] information in an appropriate manner basing on the teachings of the Bible.

The archbishop also hinted on the fact that family planning is often misunderstood and only limited to contraceptives.

Archbishop Kaziimba is well known as a Male Gender Champion and an advocate of Family Planning. In his Charge on his day of enthronement as the 9th Archbishop of Church of Uganda on 1st March 2020, he said;

“I am also known as a champion for family planning and believe there is a place for birth control in Marriage God’s Way. I want to be clear, however, that I completely disagree with and cannot support abortion as a method of birth control. Let us promote life rather than destroying life. I want to encourage people to produce the number of children they can manage.”

And about the teenage pregnancies, the archbishop blamed parents for not playing their role.

”It is considered failed parenting on our part for our daughters to become pregnant while still teenagers,” Says Mugalu. ”The education of a pregnant girl child quickly comes to a painful end, rendering the future prospects of such child very dim.”

In addition, he says, “these pregnant teenage girls face a higher risk of long term health consequences during pregnancy and childbirth, including high rates of maternal death and obstetric fistula.”

While we the adults continue arguing over issues of sexuality, the teens are getting pregnant, said the archbishop. “Parents, Guardians, let us openly and honestly engage these young people in conversations or dialogues on spiritual values, dating, relationships and sexuality including issues related to teen pregnancy prevention,” Archbishop Mugalu

Article first published by Reproductive Health Uganda (RHU)