On January 10, 2022, Uganda reopened its schools to some 15 million students, ending 83 weeks of school closure—the longest of any country during the COVID-19 pandemic. While many students are no doubt overjoyed at returning to school for the first time since March 2020, sadly most received no virtual or remote learning assistance during the prolonged closures.

But lost education is not the only casualty created by the pandemic and ensuing lockdowns. A “shadow pandemic” has emerged in a number of countries across the globe: sexual violence and exploitation of women and girls, resulting in thousands of teen pregnancies in Uganda alone.

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