A programme to distribute free re-usable sanitary pads to 1,500 school-going girls in five districts of Hoima, Kikuube, Mubende, Kakumiro and Kyankwanzi has started.
The one-year pilot project is being funded by East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) Company, in collaboration with Malaika, a social enterprise, as part of its corporate social responsibility.
During the launch at Kabaale Public primary school in Kabaale sub-county, Hoima district on March 21, 2025, Harriet Kihumuro, the Hoima district education officer, said this will help girls stay in school.
In 1997, government rolled out Universal Primary Education, to provide free education for all children, increase access, equity and relevance of primary education, and fight poverty using education. However, as years went by, the programme faced increased dropout rates for many reasons including poverty, child labour, parents’ negligence and absence of role models.
Among girls, the high dropout was attributed to early marriages, poverty, lack of key resources, lack of adequate information regarding menstrual hygiene and lack of access to sanitary facilities for them to change pads during menstruation period.
Kihumuro said, for fear of stigma, some girls would absent themselves and lagged behind in learning. Due to absenteeism, girls lose on average 60 percent of their annual school time, resulting into poor performance and repeating classes, lowering their self-esteem, coupled with low morale for education and they eventually drop out of school.
Those who would stick on were forced to devise other means including succumbing to romantic advances from old men to get money to buy pads; and in the process, some became pregnant and dropped out of school.
Others would use dirty clothes as pads, which resulted into urinary infections. According to a study by the ministry of Education and Sports, 70 percent of girls in Uganda use unhygienic materials, such as soil, banana fibers, and cold clothes, to manage their menstruation.
These materials are not only unhygienic but also cause discomfort, skin irritation and other health problems. On the launch day, the programme donated to learners the re-usable pads and buckets for washing during menstruation period.
Dorothy Awori, a team leader at Malaika, said the project is being implemented on a fivefold model including access to menstrual hygiene and hygiene training which includes how to wash and store the donated sanitary pads.
The others are the sustainability approach which includes showing learners how to make pads using locally available materials, the peer-to-peer approach on how to navigate puberty and handle menstrual challenges, and inclusion whereby the boys, fathers and male teachers will brought on board.
The boys will be given balls for their mental and physical relaxation. Sport, being key in uniting people, Awori said, will be used to sensitise boys on fighting stigma, leading to improved menstrual hygiene.
Kihumro said the school dropout rate in Bunyoro sub-region is at 73 percent, hailing the project as part of the efforts to improve retention especially among girls. However, she said proper use of sanitary pads goes hand in hand with access to safe and clean water.