Uganda, Kenya: lack of sanitaries force girls out of school

Updated - Monday 04 December 2006

More than a half of the school girls who drop out of school in upper primary classes do so because of lack of sanitary pads coupled with lack of separate toilet facilities and easy access to water sources within the schools, according to the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), Uganda's coordinator, Ms Florence Kanyike. She argues that menstruation is the most contributing factor to school absenteeism and poor academic performance among schoolgirls. “Unfortunately, there is a lot of silence surrounding it,” observes Kanyike adding that many girls fear to ask their parents for sanitary pads. Besides, many parents are ignorant about their added value to the education of girls. On average, a girl will have 13 menstruation circles a year. This means that parents need UGS 26,000 (EUR 11), yearly to buy pads. For most parents this is too expensive, especially when one takes into account that the average Ugandan lives on less than UGS 1,000 (EUR 0.40) a day, according to the results of the Uganda National Household survey, for the years 2002/3.

Good news in Kenya: women in Kenya have praised President Mwai Kibaki's promise to waive heavy taxes levied on women's sanitary towels as a move which will greatly enhance women's reproductive health and reduce the costly burden of hygiene on poor women.

Contact: Florence Kanyike, national coordinator, (FAWE Uganda), flokanyike@faweu.or.ug; http://www.faweu.or.ug/

Source: IRIN News, 23 Feb 2004
New Vision, 6 Jan 2004