The National Research Repository of Uganda - NRU

Welcome to the National Research Repository of Uganda, abbreviated as "NRU". NRU was established in 2021. NRU is a collection of scholarly output by researchers from the UNCST Community, including scholarly articles and books, electronic theses and dissertations, conference proceedings, journals, technical reports and digitised library collections. It is the official Institutional Archive (IA) of UNCST.

Copyright Information:

For information about the publishers' copyright policy on archiving your articles online or in an institutional archive, visit the Sherpa Site at http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/romeo.php The site gives a summary of the permissions normally given as part of each publisher's copyright transfer agreement. If you wish to publish your research findings in the NRU, please contact NRU administrator at admin@uncst.go.ug for details. NRU operates both open access and closed access models. Access to fulltext has been restricted in adherence to the UNCST Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and Copyrights policies.

Other Useful Resources:

Africa Portal is an online repository of open access library collection with over 3,000 books, journals, and digital documents on African policy issues. This is an initiative by the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), Makerere University (MAK), and the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA). Please visit the Africa Portal at http://www.africaportal.org/library.

~
 

Communities in NRU

Select a community to browse its collections.

Now showing 1 - 5 of 12

Recent Submissions

No Thumbnail Available
Item
Women to Women Research for Economic Empowerment in Uganda: A Feminist Participatory Action Research Project
(SAGE Publications, 2026-01-04) Jones, Shelley
This paper reports on a two-tiered Feminist Participation Action Research (FPAR) study which involved Participant Researchers (PRs) - a cohort of Ugandan women- in conducting research with successful Ugandan businesswomen to support the PRs’ own aspirations of owning their own businesses, and the Principal Investigator (PI) in investigating the PRs’ research processes and experiences. This project constituted the fifth stage of a longitudinal study (launched in 2004) which has investigated the challenges and opportunities for girls related to secondary school in a rural Ugandan context, as well as the ways in which education has impacted and continues to play a role in their lives as women. Findings are considered through three lenses: 1) contextualizing the relevance of the PRs’ research 2) PRs’ learnings from the research, both with respect to knowlege gained from SPs as well as fro from the research process itself; 3) PI’s learnings from the PRs about FPAR. The paper also considersactions undertaken by PRs as well a further study that resulted from this project. This study demonstrated that supporting women with the tools and resources they need to conduct their own research and build their own networks can be an empowering and trans-formative process.
No Thumbnail Available
Item
Rhythms of Learning in NGO-Supported Village Associations in Western Uganda
(Routledge, 2025-02-18) Ahimbisibwe, Karembe F.;; Aganyira, Kellen;; Nampijja, Dianah ;; Mudondo, Constance;; Achen, Stella
This article explores how a non-governmental organisation (NGO) facilitates patterns of learning, unlearning, and relearning and, in so doing, strengthens people’s livelihoods in rural Uganda. We conceptualise how NGO-supported village associations become avenues for learning trajectories that potentially “free” citizens from perpetual poverty. Based on qualitative data collected from members of village associations in western Uganda, we illustrate how a local NGO facilitates learning new knowledge, unlearning prevailing habits and practices, and relearning for gradual self and community improvement. Drawing on Alhadeff-Jones's (2017; 2019; 2020) conceptualisation of rhythms of time and space and emancipation, we coin the term “rhythms of learning” to analyse how marginalised citizens collectively – and incrementally – learn to improve their livelihoods under the aegis of an NGO. This analysis provides insights to development practitioners on how to promote incremental learning and change in illiberal settings where radical transformation of power structures is circumstantially difficult. International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS)
No Thumbnail Available
Item
Predicting severe stunting and its determinants among under-five in Eastern African Countries: A machine learning algorithms
(Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2026-01-02) Halid Worku Jemil;; Sonia Worku Semayneh;; Altaseb Beyene Kassaw ;; Kassahun Dessie Gashu
IntroductionSevere stunting is one of the primary public health challenges in LMIC including Eastern African Countries, which affects millions of children. In addition, it was a major contributor for mortality and related complication of children aged under five. However, there is limited study conducted severe form of stunting by employing Machine learning (ML) in Eastern African Countries. Therefore, our study was demonstrated to predict and identify its major determinants using ML algorithms, furthermore, to improve model explainablity. Our study used Shapley Additive explanations (SHAP) and ARM to identify the determinants of severe stunting among under-five.Methodscross-sectional study was conducted using DHS data from 2012-2022 in East Africa. 136,074 children were the source populations, and 76,019 children were the study population. Data were analyzed using Python version 3.7 and R version 4.3.3 for data preprocessing, modeling, and statistical analysis. Model performance was evaluated using accuracy and AUC. Furthermore, the SHAP analysis and ARM was used to further explain and interpret the determinants of severe stunting among children under five.ResultsThe Random Forest performed the best in this analysis, with an accuracy of 87% and an AUC score of 0.83. The analysis indicated that women's who do not practicing exclusive breastfeeding (SHAP value = +0.41), being from Burundi (SHAP value = +0.04), children being underweight (SHAP value = +0.25), lived in poor household (SHAP value = +0.40), child gender being male(SHAP value = +0.23), mothers height being short (SHAP value = +0.03), mothers being underweight (SHAP value = +0.18), child size at birth being small (SHAP value = +0.21), women's being delivered in home(SHAP value = +0.07), mothers education being primary (SHAP value = +0.20), unimproved toilet (SHAP value = +0.06), distance to health facility being a big problem (SHAP value = +0.02), were associated with increase the risk of severe stunting among under five.ConclusionThe Random Forest was the best-performing model for predicting severe stunting in Eastern African countries. To decrease the effects of severe stunting, integrated interventions should provide support for mothers with lower socioeconomic conditions, strengthen maternal education, empower women to practice exclusive breastfeeding, encourage facility deliveries, increase access for households to sanitary facilities, provide education on personal and environmental hygiene, provide mothers with information on the importance of complementary feeding for children as well as for the mothers, and provide near health facilities for mothers and essential care services.
No Thumbnail Available
Item
Living lab approaches in rural healthcare: a scoping review
(BMJ Publishing Group, 2026-01) Richard Fleet;; Fatoumata Korinka Tounkara;; Rose Joyal ;; Diane Singhroy
Objective Living labs represent a user-centric approach to solving real-world challenges by encouraging active participation of external stakeholders in co-designing the research and innovation process. Highlighted by contextual research and user co-creation, living labs are ideal for addressing the challenges of providing optimal healthcare to patients living in rural and remote regions. Our objective was to synthesise the existing research on the living lab approach in co-designing, developing or implementing a rural healthcare service, clinical intervention or health-related technology.Design Scoping review.Data sources A search was conducted on 10 May 2025, to identify articles from three electronic databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE and CINAHL).Eligibility criteria We included published literature that presented a living lab approach to improve the provision of healthcare services in a rural environment. We excluded articles examining social determinants of health (eg, physical activity and general health promotion) without a direct link to clinical service innovation or healthcare delivery.Data extraction and synthesis We collected data on study methodologies, settings, stakeholders and innovation types. Data extraction was performed by two independent reviewers using a standardised form. We used frequencies and a narrative synthesis to map characteristics, methods and contexts of living lab applications in rural healthcare.Results The search identified a total of 1080 articles and ultimately included 11 articles. Studies were published between 2016 and 2025 and conducted in Canada (n=3), the USA (n=3), Australia (n=2), Guatemala (n=1), Uganda (n=1) and France/Portugal (n=1). Study settings included rural hospitals, regional health networks, Indigenous communities, farming and fishing communities and underserved rural regions. Health issues targeted included cardiovascular disease, diabetes, musculoskeletal conditions, perinatal care, palliative care and infectious disease management. Study methodologies included formalised, theory-driven frameworks (n=4), community-based participatory research (n=4), user- or human-centred design (n=3) and co-design workshops and interviews (n=3). Only one study explicitly used the term ‘living lab’ to describe their innovation.Conclusions Relatively few living lab approaches have been meaningfully applied in rural health. There is a need for greater global diversification, expanded domains of focus and more robust evaluation to fully understand the potential and impact of living labs in rural healthcare.
Thumbnail Image
Item
Associations of menstrual health with school absenteeism and examination performance among Ugandan secondary school students: A prospective study
(Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2026-01-23) Christopher Baleke;; Levicatus Mugenyi;; Kate A. Nelson ;; Katherine A. Thomas;; Denis Ndekezi;; Jonathan Reuben Enomut;; Connie Alezuyo;; John Jerrim;; Helen A. Weiss
Background Relatively few studies have quantified the amount of school missed due to poor menstrual health, or the impact of poor menstrual health on examination performance. Methods We conducted secondary observational analyses from data nested within a cluster-randomised trial of a menstrual health intervention in 60 Ugandan secondary schools (The trial is registered as ISRCTN45461276). We used baseline data from trial participants in both arms, and endline data from the control arm participants. School absenteeism was estimated as the self-reported number of days absent due to menstruation per month and examination performance was assessed by an independently set assessment by the Uganda National Examination Board. We estimated adjusted incidence rate ratios (aIRR) for associations with school absenteeism, using negative binomial regression adjusted for school-level clustering. We estimated adjusted standardised mean differences (aSMD) in examination scores using mixed-effects linear regression. Results Of the 3312 participants who reported menstruating in the past 6 months at baseline, 323 (9.8%) reported missing at least one day of school per month due to menstruation (mean days missed = 0.30 per month, 95%CI 0.27–0.34). Similarly, of the 1192 participants in the trial control arm seen at endline, 135 (11.3%) reported missing at least one day due to menstruation (mean days missed = 0.31 per month (95%CI 0.27–0.37)). There was evidence that menstrual-related absenteeism and poorer examination performance at endline were both associated with baseline use of inadequate menstrual materials, negative menstrual attitudes, unmet menstrual practice needs, and experience of menstrual-related teasing. In addition, absenteeism due to menstruation was associated with menstrual pain, and poorer examination performance was associated with poorer baseline menstrual knowledge. Conclusion Among Ugandan students, multiple dimensions of menstrual health are associated with school absenteeism and examination performance.