Project Activities
Through improved education and facilities in schools in Papua New Guinea, adolescent girls are being supported with menstrual hygiene education and improved access to water, sanitation and hygiene facilities at school, which have become girl-friendly. Girls now have the information and facilities to manage their periods and seek appropriate care for their reproductive needs as well as improved, accessible and menstrual health friendly water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities.
Additionally, WaterAid is contributing to address harmful social norms and rigid taboos at community level, providing menstrual hygiene management and sexual reproductive health education and services to ensure women, girls and their families are equipped with the knowledge and information to seek the health services they require. Through awareness-raising and education in schools, adolescent girls have increased their understanding and knowledge of how to manage their periods within the school environment.
The project is also undertaking a range of activities to identify the menstrual health needs and experiences of adolescents, including adolescents with disabilities. Furthermore, the project has implemented a range of activities to address the barriers to inclusion and increase opportunities for participation for those most excluded. WaterAid and its partner Marie Stopes International have also trained providers and community educators on disability-inclusive sexual reproductive health education and service provision to strengthen their ability to deliver appropriate and accessible services for people with disabilities.
Partners and Community Involvement
WaterAid is supporting the Department of Education to expand curriculum on menstrual health, which teachers can use to support girls and boys in school to access information and education on menstrual hygiene. The strength of this growing relationship has been seen through 2 schools reaching out to WaterAid after the Department of Education shared the teacher training tools with them.
Wateraid also promoted a roundtable on creating a community of practice around Menstrual Health. This was attended by a diverse group of stakeholders including representatives from the Department of Education, Pacific Women, the Digicel Foundations, UNICEF and many others. The event was highly engaging and the discussion and ideas are being used to inform a PNG Menstrual Health community of practice to be led by the Department of Education with the support of other government departments and WaterAid.
WaterAid has also established a partnership with a secondary school, GabaGaba, and a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the Department of Education to improve menstrual hygiene facilities and education/information. WaterAid’s GabaGaba baseline found that the existing facilities do not meet the needs of girls during while they had their periods, therefore WaterAid designed menstrual hygiene management-friendly school WASH facilities, in consultation with girls in school. The construction started in late 2018, a period not covered by this report.
Project Background
In recent years, access to quality schools and education has improved in Papua New Guinea. Yet, despite increasing educational opportunities, dropout rates among girls remain high and completion rates low.
When facilities at school such as private toilets and available health information neglects to focus on the needs of girls, girls often have no choice other than to stay away from school. Missed days add up and girls often drop out of school to face an uncertain future.
After much research and by working closely with women and girls, we know girls are more likely to drop out of school as they enter their teenage years. More specifically, we know girls find it difficult to stay in school for some of the following reasons:
- Girls walk long distances and spend hours collecting water for household use and for drinking at school.
- Girls prefer to stay home to manage their periods due to a lack of private and separate toilets for girls and boys, running water, soap for cleaning and sanitary bins.
- Sanitary products are unavailable or expensive to buy, forcing girls to use cloth, toilet paper or nothing at all. This can be uncomfortable and extremely embarrassing and difficult to manage at school.
- Menstruation is a taboo subject in Papua New Guinea; this creates stigma and shame.
- Cultural and social norms in Papua New Guinea encourages early marriage and childrearing.
- Helping with household chores such as collecting water, cooking and caring for siblings holds more value than being at school.
- Contaminated drinking water at school causes a number of diseases, increasing absenteeism; this is also true for boys.
Project Objectives & Outcomes
Objectives:
1. Increase school retention rates for adolescent girls in Papua New Guinea.
2. Support girls to be healthy, educated and empowered to pursue a bright future.
Outcomes:
- Four schools have upgraded and improved facilities such as clean running water, boys and girls toilets, washing facilities and sanitary disposal units.
- Girls are accessing and using comfortable, locally produced, affordable sanitary hygiene products.
- Girls have the privacy and dignity at school and in their community to manage their periods.
- Girls and boys are knowledgeable around the importance of sexual reproductive health and family planning.
- Young women make their own choices around family planning to reduce unwanted pregnancies.
- Raised awareness amongst teachers, parents, students, entire communities and decision-makers means female health is less a taboo in Papua New Guinea.
What's Covered in Project Costs
Footprints funding will contribute to improving school retention rates for adolescent girls and improving the health and well-being of young women in Papua New Guinea by:
- Improving water, sanitation and hygiene facilities at four rural schools, including building boys’ and girls’ toilets, washrooms and a sanitary disposal system at each school.
- Developing a school curriculum to help deliver classroom based education for boys and girls around menstrual and sexual reproductive health, and family planning.
- Training teachers to deliver monthly classroom based lessons around hygiene and sexual reproductive health.
- Holding awareness events and learning sessions for parents and other members of the community around the importance of female health.
Project Partners & Community Involvement
WaterAid is working in partnership with Marie Stopes International and our local NGO partners in Papua New Guinea. The project was carefully co-designed with our partners and together we will implement project activities.
By coming together to share knowledge, resources and expertise, we will reach more girls than we could ever reach on our own. By doing so, this project represents a powerful approach to improving the health and well-being of adolescent girls and reducing poverty by creating positive environments that allow girls to finish their schooling.
WaterAid will lead the coordination of regional activities around shared learning and knowledge dissemination in Australia, regionally and globally. In addition, we will build on our existing relationships with national and sub-national government and private partners to strengthen uptake of program into national policies and to improve project sustainability.
How This Project Fits Into a Larger Strategy
The ‘Keeping Girls in School’ project is a new and innovative project that has been designed to reach both girls and their communities in Timor-Leste and Papua New Guinea.
Commencing in July 2017, and spanning over three years, project activities will be simultaneously implemented in each country. Activities in Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste have been tailored to suit the social norms, culture, government priorities and needs of students and their communities in each country.