From 1st August to 12th September 2022, we ran a countrywide call for innovative local solutions that were addressing gender and health challenges in Uganda. The call targeted community organizations and individuals who had implemented gender-based solutions that had improved the health of the Ugandans. The call was promoted online, on television, and through poster distribution. The District Health Officers (DHOs) and District Community Development Officers (DCDO) also actively promoted it.

On 28th of September 2021, the SIHI Uganda team led by Hub Director Dr. Phyllis Awor visited Amani Family Centre, located in Kanyogoga slum, Kampala. The team conducted interviews with the founder, employees, and beneficiaries of Amani Family Centre, and the local leaders. Writing of the case study on this solution is ongoing.

From 6th to 7th of October 2021, the SIHI Uganda team visited the second selected solution (Influencing Social Behaviour Change & Communication through the Peer-to-Peer Support Groups), which is located in Kiryandongo district in the western region of Uganda. A case study is being written on the innovation. A video to explain the solution will be developed.

We reviewed published literature for examples of social innovation in health by searching PubMed and Google Scholar. 743-full text articles were reviewed. 23-articles were selected and of these 8 met the inclusion criteria.

Learn more about our review and download references for identified articles.

In order to ensure sustainability of the social innovation activities in Uganda, we sought support through funding applications and partnership engagement. We are mapping the social innovation ecosystem in Uganda to identify possible funders of social innovation where we can submit grant applications.

On 28th April 2022, we held the 4th social innovation stakeholders’ workshop at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Kampala, Uganda. The objectives of the workshop were: a) to show case examples of social innovation in health in Uganda; b) to introduce innovators to activities on gender and social innovation in health. The workshop convened innovators, officials from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Secretariat of Science, Technology and Innovation, academia from Makerere University, SIHI partners and other stakeholders. Read our report

On 17th March 2021, we organised a dissemination workshop for the top community-based health innovations that were identified in April and September 2020. During the workshop, Dr. Maxwell Otim, Science, Technology and Innovation director at MoSTI expressed interest to partner with SIHI Uganda to develop the National Social Innovation Cluster Programme.

On 18th May 2022, we participated in the TDR grantee network research update meeting. We made a presentation highlighting preliminary findings, best practices and insights regarding challenges encountered and ways forward. Since July 2021, we have been implementing a study titled “Community Engagement in Social Innovation: A Mixed Methods Analysis from the Social Innovation in Health Initiative.”

UNICEF/ UNDP’S “Think Big Think Challenge” award, a collaborative study between SIHI/ TDR, SIHI Uganda, UNICEF and UNDP on the role of the private sector in healthcare delivery in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs), has been completed in the United Republic of Tanzania and Ghana. It provides insights into how private sector engagement and interactions could be enhanced in order to improve the quality of healthcare for women and children. Fore more information about Big Think, read the full story here.

We implemented a gender and social innovation project, which aims to understand and explore the gendered dimensions of social innovation in health at the community level. The hub is working with the five social innovation projects which were identified through previous calls from 2017-2021. Among the project’s specific objectives are to understand and explore the gendered aspects and dimensions of communitybased health projects, assess and identify gender monitoring indicators relevant in social innovation projects, and draw evidence-based lessons and good practices to address inequities resulting from the intersections of gender with other social stratifies in social innovation projects.