Girl Empowerment Project
This project, which will be implemented in Ngora District in Kobuin Sub-county Eastern Uganda, has a life span of 5 months.

Innovative Youth with Action Uganda (IYAU) is a grassroots community based integrated empowerment programme aimed at offering livelihoods, capacity building for women, gender issues, orphaned and vulnerable children (OVCs), HIV/AIDs and Reproductive health services and environmental protection and revamping.

Monthly menstruation, a normal body process, has affected millions of girls in developing countries prompting them to skip up 20% of the school year simply because they cannot afford to buy mainstream sanitary products.

IYAU applied for $2,000 to be used for direct project costs in order to meet the objectives of the Girl Empowerment Project including:

• Training of school girls on how to make reusable sanitary pads and procure materials for making pads
• Provision of personal dignity items and covered bins for proper disposal of sanitary pads
• Establishment of community avenues and dialogue grounds for girls, parents and community leaders to discuss puberty and menstruation related issues
• Sensitization of men and boys to be involved and supportive to girls’ during menstruation
• Establishment of girls health clubs and movements to provide peer-to-peer counselling, reproductive health information and provide personality dignity items to their peers
• Training girls on life skills as a way of improving on their self-esteem and confidence
• Sensitization of girls and boys on puberty, feminine hygiene and on reproductive health
• Advocacy

The project intends to benefit a total of 500 in-school girls and 1000 out-of-school girls.

The UCF Board was pleased to approve this application from IYAU following communication with Mission for African Mothers (MAM) who ran a similar programme in April 2014, though our grant to them was for a different purpose.

The expected outcomes for the Girl Empowerment Project are:

• Reduction in numbers of girl children dropping out of school as a result of menstruation
• Improved academic performance and results of rural school girls
• Improved understanding and knowledge amongst girls on reproductive health, puberty, feminine hygiene and menstruation
• Increased parental and community involvement in girl child education and feminine reproductive issues