WHISPERS OF DESPAIR: Behind the Rising Suicide Rates Among Ugandan Youth and Teenagers

By Khalid Kizito Ssekabembe, Law Student at Makerere University and CEHURD Intern

I write this article in deep pain, carrying a heavy conviction that far too many young people in our country are suffering and dying in silence. Today, Uganda has increasingly become a society where young people who are struggling with their mental health may face judgement rather than compassion. When a young person gathers the courage to tell their parents, friends, teachers, religious leaders, or society that they are suicidal or struggling with their mental health, they may be met with a wall of judgement, religious or cultural condemnation, or dismissal.

Even in an era where counselling and mental health awareness are increasingly discussed, young people continue to experience severe psychological distress. Our collective response remains inadequate, and in some cases, society appears to prioritise punishment over compassion. This reality is also reflected in our laws, where attempting to take one’s own life remains a criminal offence under the Penal Code. If we do not wake up as a nation and intentionally work to protect and support young people, we risk losing an entire generation to a crisis that can no longer be ignored.

As a young man who has recently finished university, I have witnessed firsthand how pervasive this crisis can feel among young people. I am not suggesting that every young person experiences suicidal thoughts, but I believe that the pressure surrounding today’s youth creates an environment in which many struggle silently. We live in a high-pressure environment marked by academic stress, limited employment opportunities, financial difficulties, relationship challenges, and intense family expectations. Yet, mental health remains severely neglected.

Mental health is often discussed casually, but meaningful attention, resources, and sustained interventions have not always followed those conversations. Too many young people are expected to endure their struggles quietly until the situation becomes critical.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people aged 15–29 globally, with about 700,000 people reportedly dying by suicide (World Health Organization). In Uganda, recent statistics indicate that, in 2024 alone, 190 suicide attempts were recorded, 59 resulted in deaths, and 18 were reported as attempted, with young people disproportionately affected.

Definition of Suicide

Suicide is death caused by self-directed injurious behaviour with the intent to die as a result of the behaviour. Suicide is a global health concern, with 79% of annual cases occurring in low- and middle-income countries.

However, suicide remains illegal in many African countries, including Uganda. The criminalisation of suicide attempts can create additional fear and stigma around seeking help. A person experiencing suicidal thoughts should be encouraged to seek immediate support rather than be made to fear punishment or condemnation.

Although suicide rates in Uganda decreased from 15.91 per 100,000 population in 2000 to 9.9 per 100,000 in 2017, the rates remained highest among young people, with approximately 700,000 university students. The university population represents a particularly important group to consider.

University students transition from adolescence to adulthood, a stage associated with numerous physical, psychological, social, and spiritual stressors. For some, these pressures can become overwhelming and contribute to serious mental health challenges. Previous studies have reported high numbers of suicides among university students.

If the government and society were to pay closer attention to these critical triggers and provide meaningful interventions, we could significantly reduce mental health crises and potentially prevent deaths. Some of the most pressing and often overlooked factors include the following:

1. Academic pressure, bullying, and institutional neglect

The tragic reality of youth suicide in Uganda is linked to academic pressure, school bullying, and institutional neglect. These issues represent some of the most pressing challenges facing young people today. Far too often, children are placed in environments where their worth is measured almost entirely by academic performance. When parents condition affection or approval on academic performance and teachers use discouraging or humiliating language, schools cease to feel like places of learning and instead become environments of psychological distress.

For example, the Daily Monitor reported a story involving a Senior Four student at Kagamba SS in Ntungamo District who took his own life after reportedly scoring poor grades in his O-Level examinations. This tragic outcome occurred despite his extensive efforts to study in an attempt to perform well.

Studies have found that university students commonly experience suicidal behaviour towards the end of their academic programmes. An investigation published by Cambridge University Press on 30 April 2021 also found that only four students took their own lives during their first year. This may be attributable to the compounding pressure students experience as they progress through university. Among students, academic disappointment may therefore be one of the significant risk factors associated with suicidal distress.

Many suicide deaths occur in hostels, rental accommodation, or the homes where students live. This highlights the importance of ensuring that students have safe environments and people with whom they can communicate. Communication has also changed with advances in technology. While written suicide notes were historically one way individuals communicated their distress, social media posts, private messages, and other forms of digital communication have increasingly become part of how young people express emotional pain.

2. Breakups and romantic relationship challenges

A number of variables related to adolescent romantic relationships have been associated with the risk of suicide attempts or deaths among adolescents. These include incongruent partnership role identities, negative sexual experiences and stressful events, breakups, and relationship disputes. Nevertheless, the extent to which romantic relationship issues contribute to suicide risk remains difficult to establish.

For example, one study found that 76% of suicide attempts among adolescents who presented at an inner-city emergency department were related to relationship disputes, including conflicts involving peers, family members, and romantic partners (National Institutes of Health).

According to the Daily Monitor, Reagan Opito, a Senior Three student at Aboke High School in Kole District, reportedly died by suicide following an alleged disappointment. The deceased reportedly left a suicide note indicating that he had decided to end his life because his β€œlongtime girlfriend had terminated their relationship.”

We have also seen very young men who have invested heavily in romantic partners, sometimes paying their partners’ tuition, entertainment expenses, and other costs. When such relationships end, some experience intense emotional devastation. The same can happen to young girls who experience painful relationship disappointments, particularly when they feel that they have compromised their personal boundaries in a relationship.

3. Family disputes and divorce

Family disputes and divorce frequently destabilise a teenager’s home environment, sometimes stripping away their core sense of emotional security. This instability can trigger intense psychological distress, manifesting as severe depression and persistent anxiety.

According to research by Crown Adolescent Health, divorce can be a pivotal moment in a family’s life, often reshuffling relationships and daily routines. Studies have shown that teenagers from divorced families are at greater risk of developing mental health issues such as anxiety and depression.

What matters most is that children and teenagers should not be left to carry the emotional consequences of family conflict alone. Parents may separate, but their responsibility to protect and support their children must remain.

4. Peer-to-peer bullying

The mechanisms currently in place to protect children from peer-to-peer bullying are profoundly broken. Countless students experience the isolating trauma of reporting bullying to school administrations, only to witness no action being taken.

I can speak strongly about this as a victim. I once attended a school where I also faced serious bullying. I tried to report what was happening, but nothing was done. That experience taught me how devastating institutional silence can be.

When a student reports bullying and receives no meaningful protection, they begin to believe that they have no voice and that their suffering does not matter. When these students finally seek professional help, they are too often met by school counsellors who adopt a judgemental posture rather than an empathetic one. Judgemental counselling invalidates a child’s pain, breaches their trust, and worsens the crisis, effectively closing the last available door to safety.

To address this crisis before more lives are lost, governments must treat youth mental health with the same financial and structural urgency as physical health. Schools, too, must establish effective systems for reporting bullying, protecting victims, and holding perpetrators accountable.

5. Social media, unrealistic expectations, and digital pressure

The digital revolution has transformed Uganda’s social fabric. While technology has created enormous opportunities for communication, education, creativity, and business, it has also exposed young people to cyberbullying and unrealistic lifestyle standards, fuelling unprecedented levels of loneliness, inadequacy, and severe drops in self-esteem.

This psychological crisis is driven by the toxicity of social media and a high rate of compulsive use, as young Ugandans increasingly struggle to live like wealthy socialites. Driven by the desire to achieve affluent, bourgeois lifestyles overnight, many fall into despair when reality fails to match the curated perfection seen online.

6. Digital pressure

In Uganda, this digital pressure has escalated into a public health emergency, manifested in rising reports of TikTokers and content creators involved in suicide cases. The real, unrelenting struggle to maintain numbers, views, and a large following drives vulnerable individuals into extreme mental distress.

This crisis is exacerbated by parental negligence. Many parents give children smartphones without guiding them on what they watch, whom they interact with, and how they should respond to harmful online content. This raises an important question for every parent: Do you know what your child is watching online?

Consequently, societal role models have shifted from accomplished professionals, such as lawyers, to internet socialites. Today, Ugandan children openly declare that they want to become like popular social media personalities and TikTokers, valuing viral fame over academic or professional merit.

Parents and society therefore have a responsibility to teach young people that their value is not determined by followers, likes, views, material possessions, or online recognition.

What must we do?

As I conclude, addressing this systemic crisis requires a coordinated response from both state authorities and the family unit. The government, as the body responsible for the welfare of its citizens, must strengthen mental health services for young people and invest in accessible support programmes. It must consider implementing stronger digital safety policies, age-verification regulations, and nationwide mental health support initiatives tailored to the realities of today’s digital generation.

The decriminalisation of attempted suicide in Uganda, as outlined in the Penal Code Act, should also remain part of the national conversation. Young people experiencing suicidal thoughts should be encouraged to seek help rather than fear punishment.

At the same time, parents must reclaim their role as primary mentors and sources of emotional support while taking time to understand what their children consume online. Schools should become safer spaces where students can report bullying, academic pressure, abuse, and mental health struggles without fear of humiliation.

Religious leaders, teachers, counsellors, health professionals, communities, and young people themselves all have a role to play. Mental health education should not begin only when someone is already in crisis. It should become part of how we educate and raise young people.

Most importantly, we must change the way we respond when someone says, β€œI am not okay.” We should not immediately judge them. We should not dismiss their pain. We should not tell them simply to pray harder, work harder, or be stronger. We should listen. We should take them seriously. We should connect them to appropriate support.

Suicide prevention is not the responsibility of one institution. It is a collective responsibility. We must choose compassion over condemnation, listening over judgment, and prevention over regret. Our young people are worth saving, and the time to act is now.

A version of this article was first published in the Daily Monitor on page 12 on 9 October 2026.

Beyond Recitation: The Art of Persuasion and the Pursuit of Reproductive Justice

Reflections from the 13th CEHURD National Inter-University Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition, 2026

By Nakibuuka Noor Musisi

A courtroom is more than a place where lawyers cite provisions of the law and judges pronounce decisions. It is a space where competing interpretations of rights are tested, facts acquire legal meaning, and the quality of advocacy can determine whether a constitutional promise becomes meaningful in people’s lives.

This was one of the central lessons from the 13th CEHURD Annual National Inter-University Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition, held from 24th to 25th September 2026 under the theme β€œReproductive and Gender Justice in Uganda: Navigating Constitutional Rights, Public Interest and Social Values.”

At one level, the moot was a competition among university law students, at another, it was a practical exercise in understanding what it means to use the law as an instrument of justice.

The legal questions placed before the mooters were closely connected to realities that reproductive justice must confront: adolescent access to contraception and health services, emergency healthcare, maternal health, poverty, geographical barriers to healthcare, parental consent, government accountability, public resources, stigma and the consequences of delayed or inadequate care.

These are not merely questions of legal interpretation; they are questions about whether constitutional rights can be meaningfully enjoyed by people whose social and economic circumstances may make access to those rights difficult.

When constitutional rights meet lived realities

Reproductive justice requires us to look beyond whether a right exists on paper and ask whether people can actually enjoy it.

A constitutional provision may recognise equality, dignity, health, life, privacy or freedom from discrimination. Yet for a young person living far from a health facility, without the resources to travel, facing stigma or navigating requirements that may limit access to services, the existence of a constitutional right does not automatically translate into access.

This is where constitutional law becomes particularly important.

The law must grapple with the relationship between individual rights and broader questions of public interest, culture, social values and state responsibility. It must ask difficult questions about autonomy, parental responsibility, access to healthcare, equality and accountability.

The CEHURD moot competition provided students with an opportunity to confront these questions not simply as academic propositions, but as advocates before the bench.

And that is an important distinction. A constitutional rights framework is meaningful only when lawyers can connect legal principles to the realities of the people whose rights are before the court.

Advocacy is more than knowing the law

One of the clearest lessons from the preliminary rounds was that effective advocacy is not measured by the number of authorities a lawyer can cite. It is measured by whether the argument is clear, coherent, legally grounded and persuasive.

His Worship Ivan Busulwa reminded the mooters to ensure that an argument is firmly established before moving to another. His Worship Osauro John Pauls emphasised that β€œlawyering is about persuasion.” Statutory provisions may remain static, but it is the lawyer’s task to persuade the audience about how those provisions apply to the facts before the court.

Her Worship Kambedha Lydia emphasised that a strong mooter must organise arguments clearly, support each point with the right authorities, respond confidently to questions, concede where appropriate and acknowledge gaps honestly.

Her Worship Ariokot Esther Joyce reinforced the same message: lawyering is not about who cites the most laws, but about who is able to persuade the court and argue the case clearly.

These reflections extend well beyond mooting. They are a reminder that a lawyer may have an excellent legal proposition, but if that proposition is buried under unnecessary authorities, poorly structured submissions or an inability to respond to the court, its persuasive force may be lost.

This is particularly important in public interest litigation, where lawyers often must translate people’s lived experiences into constitutional arguments without losing the human reality behind the case.

The advocate therefore, one must not only know the law but must also know how to make the law speak to the facts.

The courtroom is not an examination hall

Perhaps one of the most important lessons from the competition was the distinction between demonstrating knowledge and practising law.

In an examination, a student may be rewarded for reproducing a well-developed legal argument. In court, the advocate must listen, respond and engage.

The lawyer must understand the question being asked, identify the real issue and take the court directly to it. The lawyer must also be prepared to adjust the argument when challenged.

The judges repeatedly encouraged the mooters to be direct, organised and confident; to present only the facts and authorities relevant to the issue; to respond to the opponent’s arguments; and to remain respectful and open minded.

This is an important lesson for legal education; knowing what the law says is necessary, but it is not enough. Future lawyers must also learn how to use the law.

From academic papers to courtroom advocacy

The final round brought these lessons into sharper focus. The final bench comprised Hon. Rtd. Justice Stephen Martin Egonda Ntende, Hon. Justice Catherine Bamugemereire, Hon. Justice Geoffrey Wilfred Kiryabwire, Hon. Justice Eva K. Luswata and Hon. Justice Aisha Naluzze Batala.

Their participation provided students with an opportunity to receive practical reflections from experienced members of the superior courts.

Justice Geoffrey Wilfred Kiryabwire offered a memorable analogy: β€œThe only way you can win a game is by scoring more goals than the other side.” His message was that lawyers should not concentrate on β€œdribbling” through unnecessary complexity. They should focus on advancing their case.

He also cautioned that submissions should not sound like academic papers.

This distinction matters; academic writing allows space for extensive discussion and multiple authorities. Courtroom advocacy requires the lawyer to identify what matters to the determination of the case and present it with precision.

Justice Kiryabwire also highlighted the value of exposing law students to actual court proceedings. He noted that a university had, for the first time, requested to attend a criminal session at the Court of Appeal and that the students subsequently interacted with the judges. Such experiences help bridge the gap between the classroom and the justice system.

Justice Eva K. Luswata encouraged the mooters to break their submissions into clear points and avoid reading extensively from long prepared texts. The lawyer must engage with the court rather than simply read to it.

Lady Justice Aisha Naluzze Batala reminded the mooters that when stating a ground of appeal, the advocate should engage with it immediately. Her observation that access to contraceptives for minors should be considered alongside cultural and societal values also reflected the broader complexity of reproductive justice.

These are not simply techniques for winning a moot, they are habits that shape professional identity.

The human being behind the legal argument

This year’s moot accorded students with another lesson; effective advocacy requires listening.

A lawyer who listens to the court can understand the concern behind a question. A lawyer who listens to opposing counsel can identify the real point of disagreement. A lawyer who listens to the facts can appreciate the human consequences that the legal argument must address.

In reproductive justice litigation, this is particularly important because the law often intersects with experiences that cannot be reduced to legal provisions.

A constitutional question about access to contraception may involve age, autonomy, parental responsibility, culture, poverty and health-system capacity.

A case concerning maternal healthcare may involve not only the right to life or health, but also distance, referral systems, emergency response, staffing, financing and accountability.

A case concerning unsafe abortion may require an understanding of how stigma, poverty, limited access to services and the legal environment can interact in ways that affect people’s lives.

The lawyer must therefore see the whole picture while maintaining legal discipline.

This is also where the principle of public interest becomes important. The lawyer is not simply arguing for a legal proposition; the argument may have implications for people beyond the immediate parties. A constitutional decision can shape institutional practice, public policy and access to services.

Reproductive justice requires more than winning a case.

The moot also raises a broader question about the purpose of public interest litigation and whether the objective of such moots and litigations is just to win a case.

A judgment can resolve the dispute before the court, but reproductive justice asks a wider question: what happens after the judgment? Does the decision change institutional practice? Does it improve access to healthcare? Does it remove discriminatory barriers? Does it strengthen accountability? Does it reach the people whose experiences gave rise to the litigation? Does it change how institutions understand their constitutional obligations?

These questions remind us that litigation is one component of a broader justice process.

For organisations like CEHURD working at the intersection of law, health and human rights, the courtroom is one part of advocacy. Research, community engagement, strategic litigation, policy advocacy, public education and institutional accountability all contribute to transforming rights from constitutional promises into lived realities.

The moot’s focus on reproductive and gender justice reminds future lawyers that their work may extend beyond the courtroom. They may be called upon to understand the systems that produce inequality and to use the law to challenge those systems.

The moot therefore provides a useful reminder that the lawyer’s role is not simply to win an argument. It is to use the law responsibly in pursuit of justice.

The deeper lesson: law must remain connected to people

The most significant lesson of the CEHURD moot may therefore be found beyond the competition itself.

The theme of reproductive and gender justice required the mooters to navigate the relationship between constitutional rights, public interest and social values. But the advocacy lessons from the judges provided another layer: justice is not achieved simply by knowing the right provisions. It requires the ability to connect law to facts, clarity, courage to acknowledge weaknesses in an argument, discipline to distinguish what is relevant from what is merely interesting, respect for the court and the capacity to persuade without losing sight of the people whose rights are at stake.

For reproductive justice advocates, this is particularly significant. The people whose rights are litigated are not constitutional hypotheticals. They are adolescents seeking information and services, women seeking safe and timely maternal healthcare, families navigating poverty and health system barriers, and communities whose social and cultural realities shape how rights are experienced. Therefore, the law must remain connected to those realities.

The moment of truth

After two days of research, preparation and rigorous oral advocacy, the competition reached its conclusion.

Islamic University in Uganda Females Campus emerged as the winner of the 13th Annual National Inter-University Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition, with Uganda Pentecostal University, Fort Portal Campus, as first runners-up.

Katimbo Alison Faith was recognised as Best Oralist.

Uganda Christian University, Mukono received the award for Best Memorial, while Islamic University in Uganda, Kampala received Second-Best Memorial.

These awards recognise different dimensions of legal advocacy.

Oral advocacy requires clarity, responsiveness, confidence and persuasion. Written advocacy requires research, analysis, structure and precision. Together, they represent important skills for any lawyer.

But the value of the moot cannot be measured only through the final results.

The participating law schools, students, coordinators, clerks and judges collectively created a learning environment in which students could test their knowledge, receive practical feedback and experience the demands of courtroom advocacy.

The competition therefore ended with winners, but the learning continues.

Beyond the moot

The 13th CEHURD National Inter-University Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition was, on the surface, a competition. But its deeper value lies in the professional formation it offers.

It teaches future lawyers that advocacy is not about demonstrating how much law they know. It is about identifying the real issue, understanding the facts, using the right authorities, responding to the court and persuading through a clear and lawful argument. It also demonstrates why spaces that bring together constitutional law, reproductive justice and practical advocacy matter.

The next generation of lawyers will inherit difficult questions about autonomy, equality, health, dignity, gender, culture, public resources and state accountability. Their effectiveness will depend not only on what they learned in law school, but on how they learned to use the law in service of people.

The lessons from the moot are therefore worth carrying beyond the competition and into the courtroom.

The Moot may have ended with a trophy, but its most important outcomes are likely to be seen much later- in the confidence of young advocates, the quality of their submissions, their ability to listen and respond, and their willingness to use the law to advance reproductive justice.

Know your facts. Get to the substance. Speak to the court. And make every submission count.

That is the art of advocacy.

The writer is the Deputy Executive Director at the Centre for Health, Human Rights and Development (CEHURD).

CEHURD Recognised for Strengthening the Fight Against SGBV in Hoima

Uganda Police, through the Hoima Central Police Station Child and Family Protection Department, has commended CEHURD for its eight-year partnership in preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in Hoima City.

Through the DFPA project, CEHURD has supported efforts to strengthen the response to SGBV by training duty bearers, enhancing coordination among justice actors, providing legal and psychosocial support, facilitating court representation and witness support, strengthening referral pathways, and supporting survivor protection and access to justice.

The Intersection of Reproductive and Gender Justice: A Reconciliation of Legal Rights with Collective Interests and Community Morals in Uganda Today

By Nakirayi Fatuma.B

Lecturer:  Islamic University in Uganda- Kampala Campus

Kibuli Hill Road

Kampala Uganda

Uganda has promoted gender and reproductive justice through foundational constitutional guarantees, specific protective legislation, and national policy framework. Through institutions such as The Center for Health, Human Rights and Development (CEHURD) which promotes gender and reproductive justice in Uganda, issues such as strategic litigation, community empowerment, legal aid, and policy advocacy have been embraced by many communities including higher institutions.

Students from Higher institutions and universities in Uganda have gotten a chance to acquire knowledge in the promotion of gender and reproductive justice by actively participating in specialized, high-impact national moot court competitions that challenge students to litigate multifaceted real-world human rights predicaments conducted by CEHURD every year. These moot court competition podiums train law students in public interest litigation, preparing young lawyers with the ethical foundation and practical expertise to encounter prejudiced laws and policies in the Ugandan Judicial system.

This programme is not just about the teams championing, but it uplifts and contributes to students’ ability to face real-life experiences in the legal profession. The moot problems seem fictional, but they are real problems faced by vulnerable individuals in various societies that require legal attention. With the introduction of the competence-based education system at higher learning institutions, the skills acquired by students during research, drafting and oral training sessions are enough to contribute to the students’ career building.

As higher institutions, this grants Universities a chance to produce better lawyers who will advocate for gender and reproductive justice whilst respecting the rule of law for all. Many students participate in this competition with the aim of learning, test their legal ability and competence as well as leaving victorious after the competition while others, its more than winning but to challenge themselves if they really have what it takes to bring justice to the needy while using the available laws. Our students are enthusiastically looking forward to this year’s competition.

A Reflection on the CEHURD Moot Court Competition

– By Calvin Obita, Lawyer and Chief Clerk 11th CEHURD Moot

I had the privilege of serving as Chief Clerk in a highly impactful 11th Annual National Inter-University Constitutional Law Moot Court Competition organized by the Center for Health, Human Rights, and Development (CEHURD). The theme, “Balancing Competing Priorities in Championing Reproductive Rights and Gender Equality in Uganda,” could not have been more timely or relevant to the challenges we face as a nation.

In my role, I was responsible for facilitating the smooth running of the proceedings, which allowed me to interact closely with the distinguished panel of judges and the brilliant participants who put forth compelling legal arguments on some of the most pressing issues facing Uganda today. These included access to quality sexual and reproductive health services, discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, and the government’s responsibility in ensuring safe and legal access to reproductive healthcare, including the right to safe termination of pregnancy.

The moot problem was a poignant reflection of the real-world dilemmas in Uganda’s health and legal landscape. It tackled critical issues such as:

– The failure to provide adequate sexual and reproductive health services and how this violates constitutional guarantees of health rights.

– Discrimination in the workplace, particularly against pregnant women, and its broader impact on gender equality and women’s mental and physical health.

– The lack of laws and policies to ensure safe abortions, contributing to alarming maternal mortality rates, which remains a pressing concern.

– The unequal access to healthcare based on religious affiliations and how such disparities deepen existing inequalities in society.

Being part of this moot made me acutely aware of the delicate balance needed to champion reproductive rights while considering cultural, religious, and societal priorities. The legal arguments presented during the competition explored the tension between ensuring individual freedoms and health rights versus state and community interests, sparking thought-provoking discussions on how Uganda can move forward.

– Calvin

This experience not only sharpened my understanding of these issues but also reaffirmed the vital role of legal advocacy in addressing reproductive rights and gender equality in Uganda. The engagement and dedication of CEHURD in organising this moot reminded me of the importance of relentless advocacy in shaping a future where every individual has equal access to health rights, regardless of gender or circumstance.

I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have contributed to this significant platform, which has added so much to my professional growth and my appreciation of human rights law. Moving forward, I am inspired to continue engaging with these critical issues and supporting efforts that drive positive change in Uganda and beyond.