Keep a Girl Child in School Program

Women’s health and hygiene has been one of the key concerns over the years across the world. The awareness on menstrual hygiene and usage of sanitary pads is virtually absent in rural areas such as in Uganda. Poor menstrual hygiene can cause fungal infections, repeated infections to RTI, cervical cancer and vulnerable to infertility. Reproductive hygiene education and sexual education is not part of any education system in Uganda.Millions of girls in Sub-Saharan Africa are disempowered by the simple biological process of menstruation. Affordable and hygienic sanitary protection is not available to girls in many areas. They resort to the use of unhygienic rags and cloths which puts them at the risk of infections.Female students face great challenges in terms of hygiene and sanitation. For girls who are menstruating, these problems compound the difficulties posed by the inability to afford sanitary towels as well as cultural taboos around menstruation. As a result, Statistics indicate that 1 in 10 menstruating African girls skip school four to five days per month or drop out completely.