According to a survey conducted by FURA-UGANDA in 2017 among 1102 pupils in 18 schools in Kasese and Bunyangabu districts of western Uganda, revealed that 41.6% of adolescent girls missed on average 3.1 schooling days due to menstruation each month. The major causes of absenteeism included stigma and discrimination associated with menstruation (43.5%) and lack of a place to clean themselves in privacy (34.2%). Out of the 18 schools, 15 did not have washrooms. We were supported by RWEC0-TUST in the implementation of this project.
Therefore, the Project has two main activities. It will provide three rural schools with two washrooms each and will organise an awareness campaign and seminars on menstrual hygiene for the 1200 girls there. The second activity will also aim to normalize menstruation and battle the social stigma against it though education and conversation with the students and their teachers.
Sanitation Committees will be formed within the school in order to ensure the proper maintenance of the washrooms. It will discuss and agree on a monthly amount paid by the girls’ parents for maintenance and the purchase of soap. Baseline and end line surveys will be conducted by FURA-UG and shared with KUWA to assess the impact of sanitary facilities on menstrual health management among adolescent girls in the three rural schools. Women and old school girls will be trained in sewing Re-usable sanitary pads.
