The CNIS has had a prominent presence in Uganda for years. The ESS patron, Dr. Stephen Kijjambu and ESS Director, Dr. Rose Alenyo work together to advocate for ESS and organize and implement the courses.
The ESS is now an integral part of the medical school curriculum. The program is Directed by Ms. Merioce Namyoga. The size of the medical school classes is increasing at Makerere and courses are being semesterized. This results in an increase in the number of medical student workshops from 3 to 4 per year.
In March 2003, 10 new ESS Instructors were trained in Mbarara. Shortly after the instructors course, an ESS workshop was also held in Mbarara, during which, 60 medical practitioners were trained in essential surgical skills. The ESS training started in Mbarara in 2000 with the support of the CNIS. Today, the training is entirely managed by the Department of Surgery and receives only financial support from the CNIS. The new ESS Director Patrick Kyamanywa and the ESS patron Emil Mutakoha are doing excellent work.
The CNIS is partnered with the the Injury Control Center - Uganda (ICC-U): a non-governmental, non-profit organization that was incorporated in May 1998. Its vision is to become a lead agency in injury prevention and control, contributing to a major reduction of the injury burden nationally and internationally.
More information on the ICC-U web site »
The CNIS hopes that by addressing the issue of violence and injury among children, attitudes will change and possibly end the cycle of war and violence.
More recently, as part of its Injury Prevention Program, the CNIS with the ICC-U has studied the impact that an armed conflict can have on the injury pandemic. Results have determined that civilian injury is much higher (700%) in the war torn district of Gulu in Northern Uganda than in the center of the country. In Gulu, the schools are battleground for the rebels and the national army and children are often kidnapped and forced to become child soldiers, sex slaves or porters. The International aid in Gulu concentrates on these child soldiers and very little is done for the average Gulu child. The initial research by the CNIS and the ICC-U has demonstrated that the average Gulu child is very traumatized and that all children in Gulu are affected by the war, not only the child soldiers.
With the financial support of the CIDA Peace Building Unit, the CNIS and ICC-U implemented a non-violent conflict resolution curriculum for children in primary 5. The project included an evaluation of injury, violence and attitudes, provided first aid kits for the school, first-aid training for the teachers and the preparation of a curriculum and teacher training in non-violent conflict resolution.
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