Electrification of Six Health Centres in Rhino Camp and Imvepi Refugee Settlements
Background
Uganda is one of the twenty countries with the largest population that lacks access to electricity, with only 43% of the population having access. The importance of reliable, sustainable and accessible energy for health centres is undebatable. Based on the results from the 2007 Uganda Service Provision, 58% of health facilities did not have access to electricity and only 15% had “reliable” electricity. When further disaggregated by type of health facility, 60 % of lower-level health facilities lack access. Given this background, the GIZ projects Energy Solutions for Displacement Settings (ESDS) and Energising Development (EnDev) intended to provide and install OGS PVS for 6 purposefully selected health centres located within Rhino Camp and Imvepi Refugee Settlements in Terego and Madi Okollo districts of Uganda in 2021. This article provides a summary of the baseline assessment results that was conducted in 2021 prior to the electrification of these six health centers.
Baseline Assessment Results
Selection of health centres
Five health facilities fall under the direct managing authority of the Ministry of Health (MOH) and one health facility is under the direct managing authority of International Rescue Committee (IRC). Regardless of managing authority, all health facilities receive support – technical, infrastructural, staffing, and other – from the Ministry of Health, a multitude of implementing partners, and UNHCR. The managing authority of health facilities have important implications on the engagement of stakeholders for ownership, maintenance, and sustainability of the OGS PVS assets.
General health facility characteristics (data collected from 2021 Baseline Health Facility Survey)
Health Center | Refugee Settlement | District | Health Facility Level | Managing Authority | Years of Service | Catchment Population | ||
Refugee | Host | Total | ||||||
Imvepi HC II | Imvepi | Terego | HC II | MOH | 26 | 19,668 | 3,224 | 22,892 |
Yinga HC III | Imvepi | Terego | HC III | MOH | 25 | 10,813 | 7.351 | 18,164 |
Siripi HC III | Rhino Camp | Terego | HC III | MOH | 27 | 13,090 | 5,500 | 18,590 |
Ofua HC III | Rhino Camp | Terego | HC III | IRC | 5 | 26,952 | Unknown | Unknown |
Ocea HC II | Rhino Camp | Madi Okollo | HC II | MOH | 26 | 18,428 | 3,729 | 22,157 |
Odoubu HC II | Rhino Camp | Madi Okollo | HC II | MOH | 29 | 12,461 | 4,500 | 16,961 |