Susan Babirye

Susan Babirye is a public health specialist with a nursing background. She holds a bachelor’s degree in public health and a diploma in nursing. She has 12 years of experience building primary healthcare systems in rural Uganda. She started humbly as a nurse in charge of Kabubbu Health Center, then became the health programs’ manager, and was later promoted to be the deputy executive director of Kabubbu Development Project. Susan has designed and executed a wide range of interventions that have strengthened the healthcare system in the rural communities of Kabubbu through delivering high-impact Maternal Newborn Child and Adolescent Healthcare (MNCAH), while challenging negative social norms that inflict suffering to women and young girls.

Susan is a seasoned leader, having designed the current reproductive health program at Kabubbu Development Project. Early in her nursing carrier, Susan observed the burden of teenage pregnancy and the consequent unsafe abortions. This touched her enormously and she decided to contribute by designing the first-ever intensive community family planning project in Kabubbu that integrated all aspects of reproductive health, including gender-based violence.

As the deputy executive director, Susan has continued to lead her team at KDP to design and implement healthcare programs that have impacted hundreds of thousands of marginalized individuals, especially women and children who live in some of the poorest communities. Susan believes in gender justice, gender equality, and equity, especially in the space of health and well-being for all women and girls.