This new 9 minute video shows how BRAC is addressing high absenteeism rates among female students through a water, sanitation and hygiene programme in nearly 3,000 schools across rural Bangladesh. The programme includes menstrual hygiene facilties.
[Female students] have expressed that something so simple like as a sanitary latrine can change their entire educational experience.
The video was directed and edited by Sara Liza Baumann of Old Fan Films.
Posted in Bangladesh, Hygiene promotion, School sanitation, Videos
Tagged BRAC, menstrual hygiene
Photo: Eastern Mirror newspaper
Automatic sanitary napkin vending machines have been installed in five schools in Kohima district, Nagaland, as part of India’s total sanitation campaign. The installation was an initiative of the Communication and Capacity Devlopment Unit of Nagaland’s Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) and the Sulabh School Sanitation Clubs (SSSC), New Delhi, in collaboration with the School Education Department. The sanitary napkins cost about (US$ Rs. 3 (6.7 US dollar cents) each.
Women of slums in the city [of Tiruchi] are awakening to the significance of personal hygiene, thanks to the efforts of three women from different self help groups advocating the use of sanitary napkins for better menstrual health.
Women from around ten slums [...] have switched over to sanitary napkins, after being enlightened on its benefits.
S.Jacqueline, N.Sathyavani and A.Fathima embarked on a door-to-door campaign in slums three years ago, creating awareness on safe menstrual practices and the use of sanitary napkins. The women were trained by WEAT (Women Entrepreneurs Association of Tamil Nadu) and were assisted in procurement of production machines by the People’s Development Initiative (PDI).
Self help group members selling sanitary napkins to women in a slum near Sangiliyandapuram in Tiruchi. Photo: R. Ashok
The production unit at Rural Mart, which started with 30 napkins a week, today produces an average of 200 pieces a day. Raw materials are purchased in bulk for five months from Rajapalyam at subsidised rates. They also sell their products in schools, colleges and through vending machines stationed at offices and institutions.
The cost of a packet of six pieces is Rs. 15 [32 US dollar cents] and single pieces are sold at an average of Rs. 2.50 per napkin [5 US dollar cents]. “We want to bring down the price to Rs. 1.50 [3 US dollar cents] per piece. We need advanced machines for which we are planning to approach financial institutions for loans,” said Ms. Sathyavani
The trio visit each slum weekly to distribute the napkins and to create awareness on safe menstrual practises . “Despite our persuasion, nearly 50 percent of the women are hesitant to use sanitary napkins, preferring the use of rags,” said Ms.Jacqueline. The main reason cited by these women is lack of facilities to dispose or replace napkins in their place of work, primarily building sites. Thirty women from districts like Salem, Erode and Dindigul have been trained so far. N.Manimekalai, Head, Department of Women Studies, Bharathidasan University, siad that the napkins produced are sterilised and WEAT would apply for BSI certification at the earliest.
Source: Olympia Shilpa Gerald, The Hindu, 17 Jul 2010
Posted in Gender, Hygiene promotion, India
Tagged local production, menstrual hygiene, sanitary napkins
Like many 15-year olds girls, Sabina Roka used to get embarrassed in front of the boys in her class, though Sabina’s worries were not about spots and trainers. Sabina goes to Simle School in Nepal and until recently she had to use the boys’ toilets because there were no girls-only facilities. This was not only embarrassing – especially when she had her period – but insufficient number of toilets can result in illness, high absenteeism, drop-outs from school and even an impact on the national economy.
“Before the school had toilets we used to go into the bush and hide under the bamboo,” Sabina told WaterAid, who built the new toilets, “sometimes the boys would see us and tease us. We were embarrassed.”
For students in the UK the very idea of going to the toilet in front of their classmates – boys or girls – would be simply horrifying but it is a reality for millions of children across the world. In a survey of 60 developing countries the report, Raising Clean Hands by a number of non-governmental organisations including Save the Children, CARE and the World Health Organisation (WHO), found that two-thirds of school children in these countries do not have access to proper sanitation facilities. In Nepal, as in many developing countries, this has been driving students, and in particular girls, out of schools.
Hitting puberty is complicated enough at the best of times and yet when you don’t have private female toilets, things get even trickier. Sabina explains how during menstruation “we didn’t have anywhere to go and change our pads. After each lesson there is a bell and then we have to go to the next class. If you aren’t there in time you miss the class and so when we had our period we often had to attend one class and then miss the next.’ Many girls find it easier to stay at home when they are menstruating. This results in 10-20% absenteeism each academic year by girls. [Note editor WASH news Asia & Pacific: this figure has been disputed by recent research in Nepal that found that girls only missed about a third of a day per year because of their period].
It is not just embarrassment keeping bright female students like Sabina out of the classroom but illness too. UNICEF estimates that in schools in developing countries one toilet can be shared by more than 50 students and that can lead to a spread of diseases such as diarrhoea. The World Health Organisation estimates that 40% of cases of diarrhoea are picked up at school, and globally the disease is responsible for the deaths of 4000 children each day. The disease also leads to a loss of 272 million school days each year.
Things have gotten better at Simle School. WaterAid has built gender-sensitive toilets for boys and girls and provided training in proper hygiene for students and staff. This has led to a marked improvement in attendance and health. The report Raising Clean Hands shows that providing toilets for girls can result in increasing the attendance of female students by up to 11%.
“We really struggled before and it’s hard to compare then and now as there is so much improvement,” Sabrina said, standing in front of the new school toilets, “we feel very happy that we don’t need to miss classes anymore and that we can carry on with our studies .”
Another consequence of facilitating girls’ education is the impact on the economy. Research shows that girls like Sabina who are educated are better protected from exploitation and AIDS, less likely to die during childbirth and more likely to raise a healthy baby. The Raising Clean Hands report states that for every 10% increase in female literacy a country’s economy grows by 0.3%. Indeed the economic benefits of investment in sanitation have also been proven by reports from UN-Water which show gains of $3 to $34 per every $1 invested, leading to a gross domestic product increase of 2-7 per cent.
Taken all together, it would seem reasonable that there should be an investment in adequate sanitation systems for girls in schools. However, in Nepal, a country where 55% of the people live below the poverty line there is little money to build toilets.
The government of Nepal has recognised that proper sanitation is important to its country. The National Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Policy (2008) describe the need for sanitation as being necessary “not solely for reasons of moral obligation, but because it is in the best public interest to do so.”
It has also proclaimed its commitment to the Millennium Development Target (MDT) by setting an objective to ensure that in the next five years half the number of people who currently do not have access to toilets will get proper sanitation facilities.
The organisation Nepal Water for Health estimates that to achieve this goal they will need to build 14,000 toilets a month. The government needs international aid to achieve this but the amount of aid for sanitation projects has been falling. A recent report by the UN- Water Global Annual Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking water shows aid commitments for water and sanitation fell from 8% of total development aid to 5% between 1997 and 2008, a neglect the WHO calls “a strike against progress” .
At Simle school female students are enjoying a basic “luxury”: having the sanitation facilities to stay healthy and to remain in school. Not all female students in Nepal are so lucky. Toilets are one of the least glamorous of topics and are commonly ignored by school administrations, governments and now the developmental aid sector.
For students like Sabina, an investment in toilets can pay dividends, not only at a personal level but also to the wider economy, benefiting an entire generation. Now it falls to donors, international aid agencies and the Nepalese government to ensure sufficient investment in toilets, so that many more girls like Sabina can realise their potential with dignity.
This feature was written between 6 March and 30 April 2010 as part of the Guardian International Development Journalism Competition.
Source: Maeve McClenaghan, Guardian, 14 Jun 2010
Posted in Gender, Nepal, School sanitation
Tagged girls, menstrual hygiene, menstruation, school absenteism, WaterAid
The Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry on [15 June 2010] approved a scheme for providing highly subsidised sanitary napkins to adolescent girls in the rural areas to promote menstrual hygiene. The scheme, to be launched in 150 districts across the country in the first phase, will cost Rs. 150 crore [Rs 1.5 billion = US$ 32.2 million] for the current financial year.
Approved by the Mission Steering Group – the highest decision-making body – of the National Rural Health Mission, at its sixth meeting here, the scheme envisages covering 1.5-crore [15 million] girls in the age group of 10-19 years every month. Of this, the approximate number of APL girls is 105 lakh [10.5 million] while that of the BPL category is 45 lakh [4.5 million]. The napkins will be supplied to the below poverty line (BPL) girls at a nominal cost of Rs.1 [2.15 US dollar cents] per pack of six while those girls living above poverty line (APL) will have to pay Rs.5 [10.7 US dollar cents] per pack.
Limited access
In India, menstruation and menstrual practices are clouded by taboos and socio-cultural restrictions for women as well as adolescent girls. Limited access to safe sanitary products and facilities is believed to be one of the reasons for constrained school attendance, high dropout rates and ill health due to infection.
Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Bihar, Rajasthan and Puducherry have already taken similar initiatives to promote menstrual hygiene among adolescent girls.
The 150 districts identified in the first phase include 30 from the four southern States, Maharashtra and Gujarat and 120 from northern, central and the north-eastern States. In the first year, the Centre will procure the napkins and supply these to the States that will in turn send these to Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) in the districts for distribution on a monthly basis or to the schools which will become distribution points for students.
As an incentive, ASHA will get one pack free every month in addition to Rs.50 [US$ 1] per meeting she holds on a Sunday for creating awareness regarding menstrual hygiene among girls. Subsequently, States can choose to involve self-help groups for manufacturing and marketing sanitary napkins. At least 50 districts with a strong network of SHGs will be involved in the manufacture of napkins in the first phase itself. The ASHAs will procure sanitary napkins from the sub-centre for which she will be given Rs.300 from the untied fund. Each month, ASHA will replenish the imprest fund with the amount collected through the sale of napkins.
Safe disposal
For safe disposal of the napkins at the community level, deep-pit burial or burning are the options being considered. Due environmental clearance has to be obtained from the States for this. Installing incinerators in schools that can be manually operated is another option. Consultations are on with the Ministry of Environment and Forests for use of environment-friendly raw material and disposal mechanism.
States have been given the option of leveraging funds for incinerators through the Total Sanitation Campaign of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.
The scheme will be expanded to other districts after the outcome of the first phase is evaluated. In that case, the States will be asked to contribute 15 per cent of the cost. The scheme can also be transferred to the Ministries of Women and Child Development and Rural Development at a later stage for self-financing and self-sustaining that will reduce the budgetary support.
Source: The Hindu, 16 Jun 2010
A new study stating that menstruation has little impact on school attendance casts serious doubt on the popular assumption that the provision of sanitary products can significantly affect the education gap. That assertion has been criticized by some Nepali experts, noting that the study was carried out in one of the country’s most developed urban areas.
“Such a claim can only undermine the much-needed menstrual hygiene and management to be introduced in schools by the government and integrated in the overall hygiene intervention,” one expert, who asked not to be identified, said. [IRIN, 2 May 2010]
The study [1] was part of the Menstruation and Education in Nepal project, supported by the University of Michigan, University of Chicago and Harvard University. Research in four schools in Chitwan District, nearly 300km west of the capital Kathmadu, revealed that girls missed only about a third of a day per year because of their period. This is much less than the 10 to 20 percent quoted by other sources such as the World Bank.
As the story goes, girls miss significant amount of school during menstruation, largely because of lack of modern sanitary products, and this contributes to lower attendance rates, eventual failure, or dropping out.
Part of the appeal of this explanation is that the fix is so easy. There is no need to change attitudes about female schooling, to provide funds for uniforms or textbooks, or to construct new schools closer to girls’ homes; instead, the menstruation theory suggests simply providing sanitary products could significantly affect the education gap.
At least one sanitary product manufacturer has jumped on this fix: In 2007, Procter & Gamble announced its support for the Protecting Futures Program, which provides sanitary pads and hygiene education to girls in Africa. Other organizations (the Clinton Global Initiative, for example) have pledged millions of dollars to finance better sanitary products in the developing world.
Mothers and daughters learn about modern sanitary products in Chitwan, Nepal. Photo: Krishna Ghimire
Researchers Emily Oster and Rebecca Thornton say the claim that girls miss significant amounts of school during their periods is largely based, up till now, on anecdotes and assumptions.
We started by asking girls whether they missed school during their period; similar to other studies, over half reported ever missing school days due to menstruation.
Rather than leaving the analysis there, however, we quantified the amount of school missed because of periods by collecting detailed information on dates of menstruation and school attendance for the entire school year.
Although girls in our sample were indeed less likely to attend school on days they had their period, the effect is very, very tiny. On non-period days, girls were in school about 85.7 percent of the time; on days they are menstruating, they were in school 83.0 percent of the time (a difference of only 3.2 percent).
The researchers also found that proving better sanitary products – in their case menstrual cups – made no difference in closing the (very small) attendance gap.
Based on the evidence on schooling and in our randomized study, we conclude that better sanitary products are not likely to be an effective “quick fix” for girls’ education. This does not suggest we should limit our efforts at increasing schooling for girls, but it does point to the need for quantitative data to evaluate what efforts will be the most effective.
[1] Oster, E. and Thornton, R. (2010). Menstruation, sanitary products and school attendance : evidence from a randomized evaluation. Forthcoming article in: American Economic Journal: Applied Economics. Full paper
Source: Emily Oster and Rebecca Thornton, Are ‘Feminine Problems’ Keeping Poor Girls Out of School?, New York Times Economix, 27 Apr 2010
Rural women in Nepal, especially schoolgirls, are still treated as untouchables during menstruation, resulting in health problems and growing absenteeism.
Social Development Advisor of WaterAid Nepal Om Prasad Gautam says, “Menstrual hygiene is neglected and people do not wish to explore this subject as it is still considered a social taboo.”
Moreover, hygiene is neglected by girls, especially in the rural areas, due to lack of availability and inability to afford sanitary napkins. In a study conducted by WaterAid Nepal in four schools of Nepal, it was observed that the use of sanitary pads is higher among girls in urban schools (50%) in comparison to rural (19%), which clearly mentions that family income affects the use of sanitary napkins.
Schoolgirls also refrain from going to toilets because there is no lock, no water and no disposal facility. They are also seen to avoid going to toilets during menstruation as most schools do not have separate latrines for girls. According to Ministry of Education and Sports (MOES), only 41% of schools in Nepal have latrines with only 26% of schools having separate latrines for girls.
Menstruation is the major contributing factor in absenteeism and poor academic performance among schoolgirls. Girls often remain absent and drop out of schools because of bad sanitation facilities in schools. In WaterAid´s study, some girls ailed by constant worries, though physically present in the school, were seen to be performing poorly.
“Many girls remain absent for 4 days a month during their menstruation cycle,” Anita Pradhan, Documentation Manager of WaterAid Nepal said, adding, “Remaining absent in school for 48 days a year is a huge loss for students.”
According to a survey conducted by Nepal Water for Health (NEWAH) in 7 schools, 94 percent girls went to school but 6 percent remained absent during their menstruation period.
Furthermore, religious and cultural taboos concerning menstruating girls have prevented women from being independent actors. Gautam says he was surprised to find that the girls were asked to not touch water, touch food in the kitchen and not walk through the road near a temple by their mothers.
A girl from Kathmandu shared that her family didn´t celebrate Dashain and Tihar after she looked in a mirror during her menstruation period, as this would bring bad luck.”
Menstrual hygiene has thus a vital aspect of health education and television programs, health officers, teachers and parents can play a very important role in transmitting a message of proper menstrual hygiene. This would save them from many health hazards. Currently, organizations like NEWAH, Lumanti and ENPHO have been working to bring about changes in this sector by spreading awareness on menstruation hygiene.
Related publication: WaterAid (2009). Is menstrual hygiene and management an issue for adolescent school girls?. Kathmandu, Nepal, WaterAid. Full report
Source: Mimansha Joshi, Republica, 29 Oct 2009
Posted in Nepal, School sanitation
Tagged menstrual hygiene, NEWAH, school absenteism, WaterAid
Residents in Sihasain of Dailekh are busy constructing toilets by destroying the cowsheds used by menstruating women following the tradition of ‘Chhaupadi’. Residents of Sihasain VDC-2 have destroyed 45 such cowsheds and replaced them with toilets.
As per the tradition, the women in Dailekh have been compelled to stay in cowsheds for eight days during menstruation eating only plain ‘roti’.
The Rural Water Resource Management Project supported has helped the villagers construct toilets, taps and juthelnas (place for cleaning dishes and utensils) in all nine wards of the remote Sihasain VDC. .
Source: Naya Patrika / NGO Forum, 26 Jun 2009
Posted in Gender, Nepal, On-site sanitation
Tagged Chhaupadi, menstrual hygiene, rural sanitation
As many as 72 per cent of people in rural Karnataka still resort to open defecation, around 63 per cent do not treat their water before drinking and majority of women do not have access to modern hygienic form of sanitary protection are some of the findings of a recent survey conducted by an NGO. This puts into perpective the latest official figure of 63.91 per cent for rural sanitation coverage, published by the Ministry of Finance in the Economic Survey for 2008-09.
Ashwas, a survey on ‘Household Water And Sanitation’, by the NGO Arghyam, released by state Governor H R Bharadwaj [on 20 July 2009] revealed that 72 per cent people had no access to toilets. While 21 per cent had toilets outside the house, only seven per cent had toilets inside, it said.
Covering 17,200 households in 810 villages in 28 districts across the state, the survey was conducted between December 2008 and January 2009.
It said only five per cent of women used sanitary napkin.
Access to water has improved in most parts of the state but a major concern is the status of quality of water. Fluoride contamination above the 1.0 parts per million (ppm) government norm has been found in 60% of the cases across the state with 27 out of 28 surveyed districts registering its presence. Nitrate contamination was found in 20% of the samples. Typically nitrate contamination is from fertilizer runoff and contamination of water supply with human excreta.
A website has been set up for Ashwas, where the full state survey report, District reports, Methodology and questionnaires can be accessed. Status of water in individual gram panchayats can also be queried online. Reports customized for each Gram Panchayat surveyed will be disseminated to all the Gram Panchayats over the next 3 months.
ASHWAS report launch – presentation by Arghyam CEO Sunita Nadhamuni
Source – PTI, 20 Jul 2009 ; India Water Portal Water News, 27 Jul 2009
For several communities in India, menstruation is an excuse to treat women as `untouchables’ for seven days a month, and denied the right to participate in social customs. But women in the backward Purulia district of West Bengal have managed to destroy taboos related to the monthly cycle through a project that aims at providing better sanitation and hygiene. It also allows some women to earn money.
[...] “We belong to poor families. With low water levels in this district, income from farming is minimal. We could not afford the Rs 80-100 needed for napkins. Also, our parents would have found the whole idea indecent, decadent,” [Kalpana Kuiri, 31] says.
[...] Then last year in June [2007], the District Rural Development Cell (DRDC) and UNICEF jointly mooted a proposal for a sanitary napkin production centre at Purulia to provide cheap sterilised napkins and advocacy on personal hygiene. [...] “I started making about Rs 1,500 a month from my work at the centre. The other women then started asking me how they could join in. Even their husbands became interested. They were willing to overlook the `menstruation’ aspect for the income,” recalls Mita Das, 31, of Chapuri village, one of the first to join the project. The sanitary napkin production centre revolutionised the social perception of personal hygiene in the district.
[...] Each month, the 30 women work on the two sterilisation machines to produce about 900 sanitary napkin packets. Besides retailing, the centre supplies napkins for hospitals, schools and SHGs.
[...] The women, who were trained in Chennai, have not limited themselves to sanitary napkins. As a step ahead, they have now started production of District Dai Kits (DDK) for hospitals and midwives.
Source: Ajitha Menon, Women’s Feature Service / The Hindu Business Line, 05 Dec 2008
Posted in Hygiene, Hygiene promotion, India
Tagged menstrual hygiene, sanitary napkins
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