PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Henry Herrera
Telephone: +1-301-801-0608
Email: info@menandboys.net
Uganda’s Men and Boys Are Being Left Behind in Crucial Areas of Life
June 5, 2026 – Uganda’s national statistics reveal a consistent pattern: men and boys experience significant disadvantages across health, safety, employment, and family wellbeing, yet these issues receive relatively little attention within gender-equality discussions.
Health:
Men in Uganda continue to face significantly shorter lives and higher mortality rates than women. Male life expectancy stands at just 65.9 years, compared to 71.8 years for women — a gap of nearly six years (1). Adult mortality is also far higher among men, with 270.6 deaths per 1,000 adults compared to 190.9 among women, underscoring the significant health and survival challenges facing Ugandan men and boys. (2).
Hazardous Labor:
Among children aged 15–17, 7% of boys were involved in hazardous labor, compared to 5.6% of girls (3).
Homicide:
According to the latest available data from 2023, men accounted for 3,629 homicide victims (83.1%), compared to 737 women (16.9%) (4).
Suicide:
Men in Uganda also face a substantially higher risk of suicide. The suicide mortality rate among men stands at 8.8 deaths per 100,000 population, compared to 2.3 among women (5)(6).
Partner abuse:
An analysis of the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey found that 44% of ever-married men had experienced intimate partner violence, but only violence against women is recognized by the media or public. Emotional abuse alone affected 36% of men and 40% of women (7). These statistics demonstrate that intimate partner violence remains a significant issue affecting both men and women
Workplace:
Men in Uganda also face greater exposure to dangerous working conditions. A study of construction workers in Kampala found occupational injuries among 33.6% of male workers, compared with 20.7% of female workers (8).
Conclusion:
These findings highlight the importance of ensuring that gender-equality discussions address measurable disadvantages affecting both men and women.
The International Council for Men and Boys (ICMB) is a non-governmental organization working to celebrate the contributions of men to society and to end the 12 sex-based disparities affecting men and boys worldwide. ICMB has conducted analyses of male disadvantage in more than 50 countries, available at https://www.menandboys.net/country/.
Links:
1.https://www.worldometers.info/demographics/uganda-demographics/
2.https://genderdata.worldbank.org/en/indicator/sp-dyn-amrt?gender=male
3.https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/resources/reports/child-labor/uganda
4.https://countryeconomy.com/demography/homicides/uganda
5.https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.SUIC.MA.P5
6.https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.STA.SUIC.FE.P5
7.https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12889-022-12945-z
8.https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12889-019-7799-5/tables/1