Our Work in Uganda

Uganda Is Ready. Every Child Deserves to Be Reached.

Uganda has approximately 2.5 million children with disabilities. SPOON’s research shows high rates of undernutrition and feeding difficulties for children with disabilities in Uganda 

This is because children and their families are not getting the support they need. Most health and nutrition services are not designed to meet their needs. This means health workers don’t have the training they need, children with disabilities are not fully captured in data systems, and families don’t get the information they need to safely feed their children.

Now, Uganda's government is leading the way to make nutrition services accessible for all children. Over the past three years, the Ministry of Health approved the country's first national guidelines for feeding and nutrition of children with disabilities, revised acute malnutrition protocols to strengthen community-level care, formally recognized children with disabilities as a nutrition priority, updated information systems to better include disability, and elevated Karamoja as a national investment focus.

SPOON is translating Uganda’s commitments into services that reach every child they were written to protect.  SPOON is working alongside the government to get training to health workers who deliver care, ensuring hospitals can screen for malnutrition, feeding difficulties, and developmental delays, and advocating for inclusive nutrition nationally.

8x

more likely to be wasted compared to national averages

67%

at risk for feeding difficulties

Building a Disability-Inclusive Nutrition System in Uganda

SPOON has worked in Uganda since 2018. The rates of child malnutrition and food insecurity there are among the highest in sub-Saharan Africa. With the Association of the Religious of Uganda under the Catholic Care for Children Uganda program, we began with targeted programs supporting children with disabilities living in and transitioning out of institutions. That has since grown into something more ambitious: the first national demonstration of a fully functioning, disability-inclusive nutrition system, connecting family homes to community health workers to clinics to hospitals to national policy. 

Uganda is where the need is urgent, and the conditions are right to meet it. The government is committed to change, with strong health institutions and community partners ready to act. A national Technical Advisory Group of experts in nutrition, disability, and more is informing our approach and advocacy agenda. That combination of urgency, political will, and on-the-ground capacity is what makes national-scale transformation possible. Every step forward generates evidence that will show the world how to do this so every child thrives. 

Where We Work

Our work currently operates across two regions, connected by a shared model and a shared mission.

Karamoja Region

Northeastern Uganda

One of Uganda's most remote and underserved regions, Karamoja is where community-level transformation begins. SPOON trains health workers and community health teams across four hospitals to identify children at risk, assess their feeding needs, and connect families with ongoing support.

Partner hospitals:

  • St. Kizito Hospital, Matany
  • Moroto Regional Referral Hospital
  • Iriri Health Center IV
  • Nadunget HCIV

Kampala

National Capital

In Kampala, SPOON is establishing its presence at the highest levels of Uganda's health system, beginning to equip staff at Mulago National Referral Hospital and laying the groundwork for research partnerships with leading institutions.

Partner institutions:

  • Ministry of Health
  • Mulago National Referral Hospital
  • Makerere University College of Health Sciences (Research Partner)

What the Data Shows

These are not projections. This is what happens when providers are equipped and a system is designed to include every child.

63%

Reduction in wasting with SPOON-supported care

37%

reduction in anemia with better feeding and nutrition

35K+

assessments conducted using Count Me In

Join the Work

Uganda is where SPOON is proving what's possible. The model is underway and showing results. The partners are committed. The government is engaged. What makes the difference now is sustained investment.

Support this work here.

Read the research here.