Lydia Mulwanyi-Mukombe

Lydia currently works at UNFPA as a Senior Policy Advisor in the Uganda office. She has a wealth of experience in community health-related program planning and implementation, participatory monitoring and evaluation. At the time of her project, she had more than seven years’ experience working in non-governmental organizations and in partnership with regional and international agencies focused on adolescent sexual reproductive health, health rights awareness and advocacy and community engagement in health and research. Her advocacy experiences have been directed toward universal access to HIV treatment, increased funding for reproductive health supplies and the promotion and protection of the right to health in Uganda.

Fellowship Focus
Lydia documented an understanding of what prevention trial results mean for women—from tenofovir gel to hormonal contraceptive impact on HIV risk—and used that evidence to influence research and policy in Uganda and beyond. One of Lydia’s accomplishments was convening key consultative meetings of women from across Africa to deliberate on the issue of hormonal contraception and HIV risk. These convenings influenced the decision to conduct the ECHO trial and also influenced the conduct of the trial and post-trial decisions related to increasing method mix of HIV prevention, treatment and contraception for women.

In Their Own Words
The ECHO trial results were critical, for they pointed to the need for governments to provide contraceptive method mix for women, promote informed choice of contraceptive options and strengthen integration of contraceptive and HIV prevention services.