MESSAGE FROM THE NATIONAL COALITION OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS COALITION UGANDA AMIDST COVID19

Partners,

At a time of global crisis, we here at NCHRD-U hope you and your loved ones are staying safe and secure. We are in this together and are trying to adjust to the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic across the world where it has been devastating and now in Uganda where we have recently received the first case.

In the wee hours of Sunday morning, the Ministry of Health Uganda announced the first case of COVID 19 in Uganda. A Ugandan traveler,36 years of age had been on a 4-day business trip in Dubai contracted the dangerous virus and was detected on arrival at Entebbe Airport. Over the past days, His Excellency the President of Uganda has issued directives to help the medical personnel combat the spread of the virus but also the general citizenry to be aware of preventive measures. Inclusive of those is the need to minimize gatherings of not more than 10 people and moderate use of public transport while emphasizing the need for proper hand sanitation.

At the secretariat, we have undertaken measures to operationalize the Government’s Directives and ensure safety of our staff and our constituents. As of today, we have assessed the immediate risk to staff and interns that use public means who will now be allowed to continue their work remotely.

We have been forced to postpone Progam activities that were earlier planned to that time when we anticipate normalcy to return. Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) have always been at the Centre of our work and in this time of crisis our immediate concern is to keep HRDs-the communities we work for, our staff and partners-as safe as possible. Therefore, our offices will remain open for essential staff and our emergency lines will remain accessible.

Kindly do contact us through the following lines; Toll Free 0800100250 Helpline:+256778576852 Email [email protected]

We thank you for your continued support and wish you good health during this uncertain time and hope we all keep safe.

Robert Kirenga
Executive Director