As preparation for the Busoga Regional Youth Symposium nears its apex, the youths across the region have embarked on donating blood to save the lives of others in the country.
The Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) and Uganda Blood Transmission Services on Thursday conducted a strategic meeting and orientation session on voluntary Blood Donor Recruitment (BDR) with the Royal Chiefs of the 11 chiefdoms of Busoga Kingdom.
The session, held at the Kingdom headquarters in Bugembe, attracted several stakeholders including the Kingdom youth Minister, chiefdom youth ministers, chiefdom mobilizers, and leaders of Basoga Nseete from various universities. The event highlighted the importance of blood donation and URCS’s role mobilizing masses to donating blood.
The chief guest was the Kingdom Prime minister Dr Joseph Muvawala who was represented by the Busoga Kingdom Minister for Legal Affairs, Owek. Alex Luganda. Ms. Sarah Mutegombwa, the Program Manager for BDR at URCS, led the URCS team.
The engagement comes at a time when Busoga young people are eagerly getting ready to assemble for the international youth day celebrations.
To commemorate the annual day, the Busoga youth ministry is organising a regional youth symposium which will bring all the young people across the kingdom to interact, share experiences and strategize solutions to address their challenges.
The symposium that shall run for a week is scheduled from August 6 to 12th, 2024, at the Kingdom headquarters.
Following the orientation, the team will commence various blood donation drives, starting with Kigulu Chiefdom on July 11, 2024.
The Isabalangira of Busoga Owek Samuel Zirabamuzale Menya, emphasized the crucial importance of blood donation, particularly for mothers during childbirth and accident victims.
“Donating blood means saving lives of other people. Tge Kyabazinga wants healthy subjects and i call upon my royal brothers from all the chiefdoms to mobilize subjects for with significant project of bllod donation,” Isabalangira said.
Ms. Sarah Mutegombwa from Uganda Red Cross Society expressed gratitude to the leadership of Busoga Kingdom for the support in promoting life-saving education and voluntary blood donor mobilization.
Ms. Mutegombwa also highlighted that the youth are a core factor in donating blood, urging the Busoga young people to support this campaign.
According to Kagona, the State Minister for youth in Obwa Kyabazinga Bwa Busoga, the youth symposium that is kicking off with blood donations will feature several activities including tree planting, general cleanness across all the chiefdoms, sports and other communal activities.