Uganda on the Move: A PRB ENGAGE Multimedia Presentation
(June 2011) Uganda on the Move is a PRB ENGAGE multimedia presentation that incorporates Google Earth,Trendalyzer, and animation to explore the relationships between fertility, health, the environment, and economic development in Uganda. It was developed by PRB and the University of Makerere, School of Public Health in Kampala, with guidance and support from a multisectoral task force of local experts.
The Population Reference Bureau is creating these pioneering multimedia presentations in collaboration with local implementing agencies in selected countries, including Kenya, Uganda, and Pakistan. Designed to "engage" high-level policymakers and other leaders, ENGAGE presentations are capturing attention across the globe. They offer exciting new ways of exploring associations among population, health, and socioeconomic indicators across time and in a visually stimulating way that provide new perspectives for traditional messages.
Uganda on the Move highlights both the improvements in development indicators over time (the "successes") as well as the challenges Uganda faces with one of the fastest growing populations in the world. Through Google Earth map, the audience has a birds-eye view of Uganda's rapidly growing capital city (Kampala) and the impacts of rapid urban growth, as well as a look at land fragmentation in the north, which is creating conflicts over limited resources. Focusing on the high level of unmet need for family planning, it presents the many consequences of unplanned pregnancies, including high-risk births, maternal mortality, and rapid population growth. The presentation links family planning as a central component of development in order to reduce poverty, underscoring how increased family planning use can contribute to strengthening the economic goals of the country.
In country, each presentation is developed using a participatory approach, with multisectoral task forces established to guide the process and shape the messages. To date, the response from audiences has been overwhelmingly positive, leading to lively national policy debates and generating the kind of "buzz" that helps keep the issues alive and high on national agendas.