Improving menstrual hygiene facilities in secondary schools: Initiative from BRAC-WASH program
1. Asia Regional Sanitation and Hygiene Practitioners Workshop
31Jan - 2 Feb, 2012, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Improving Menstrual Hygiene Facilities in Secondary Schools:
Initiatives from BRAC-WASH Program
Dr. Babar Kabir, Milan Kanti Barua & Mahjabeen Ahmed
www.brac.net
2. Outline
• Introduction
• Initiatives from BRAC-WASH to improve
menstrual hygiene in secondary schools
• Means of maintenance
• Experiences from the field
www.brac.net
3. Introduction
• Menstruation is a natural process
• In her life a woman has to manage 3000 days
of menstruation including 450 days from
grade IV to X (Nahar and Ahmed, 2006)
www.brac.net
4. Introduction
• Poor menstrual hygiene can cause urinary
tract or reproductive tract infections
(Fernandes,2010 ; Dasgupta & Sarkar,2008)
• Inadequate and inappropriate sanitation
facilities prevent many adolescent girls
from attending classes esp. during their
menstruation
www.brac.net
6. Means of maintenance
• Student Brigade – 24 members
• School WASH Committee – 14 members
• Creation of fund and
availability of sanitary napkins
www.brac.net
7. Some Activities
School Latrine Construction 3960 schools
Teachers Orientation 7404 participants
Student Brigade Training 16077 participants
www.brac.net
8. Experiences from the field
Challenges
• Lack of resources
• Fund for maintenance
• Latrine number is inadequate
• Affordability of sanitary napkins
www.brac.net
9. Experiences from the field
• Girls are now attending schools with
confidence and comfort even during their
menstruation
• Provision of sanitary napkins in schools
www.brac.net
BRAC WASH has taken an initiative with the cooperation of school authorities that the facilities are maintained in a self-sustaining manner. Student Brigade - To further sensitize the students on WASH, eight students and two teachers from some schools are given a three day residential training at BRAC Learning Centers located in different parts of Bangladesh. During the training, the student brigade members get basic ideas on water, sanitation and hygiene issues with emphasis on menstrual hygiene. In most of the cases, the head masters participated with their students. School WASH Committee - Head Master is the Chairperson and a female teacher is the Member Secretary. Representatives of the School Management Committee, guardians and students are selected as members of the committee The committee meets regularly to review the WASH activities. Creation of fund and availability of sanitary napkins To carry out the objective for proper operation and maintenance of WASH facilities the schools are encouraged to create a fund to meet the expenses for soap, cleaning materials and so on. In addition to that the school authorities are being made conscious of the need to make sanitary napkins available for girls in schools. To ensure a smooth supply of sanitary napkins to school BRAC WASH staff help establish a link between the school and the local BRAC health volunteers who sells sanitary napkins.
Lack of resources – both sides. We could not reach all the school that need the facilities. Schools also could not participate