THE ECONOMIC COST OF POOR SANITATION AND HYGIENE

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Sanitation related loss of productivity, such as missed workdays, costs some countries over 6% of their gross domestic product (GDP), thereby costing individual countries billions of dollars each year.

COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating for households already facing multiple hardships. Before the pandemic, the IMF estimated that 44% of low income developing countries were at high risk or in debt distress. The pandemic has put increased strain on ministries of finance and external debt service obligations and many countries have reached unpayable levels, even without consideration of the need for climate adaptation and resilience. Achieving universal access to basic hygiene and sanitation can unlock annualized net benefits of $45 billion and $65 billion respectively. Achieving universal access to safely managed sanitation might even result in annualized net benefits of $86 billion.

In Uganda, Mothers walk for hours every day carrying heavy jerry cans, just to provide for basic needs; Children miss valuable class time because they are sent to distant sources to collect water for their school; 86% of the districts have separate school toilet facilities for boys, girls and staff. Pupil stance ratio ranges from 49:1 to 103:1, over and above the national standard of 45:1. Less than 50% of schools had wash rooms. Changing rooms are a rare facility in schools as are hand washing facilities. ~20% of girls and boys indicated having a hand washing facility at school; 80% of girls and women dispose their used pads in latrines. Other places for waste disposal include bushes and rubbish pits. There are concerns that some cultures prohibit the burning of used menstrual pads.  

Unfortunately knowledge about MHH is limited. The role of parents and teachers in passing on basic knowledge and information is minimal. Culture locks men and boys from women's menstrual issues; right and adequate MHH information is limited. For school girls, major sources of information are schools (61%), peers (45%), workmates (37%) and NGOs (27%); disposable pads are most commonly used among school girls and career women. Due to prohibitive costs, girls and women especially in the rural areas resort to using pieces of cloths as alternatives.

Eagles Youth Development Initiative, a community based organization Uganda is embarking on promotion Menstrual Health Management (MHM) in rural school with MHM information and production of re-usable sanitary pads. 

We call upon development partners to support this programme. 

GRANTS: Any financial support for program implementation can be banked to

 

Bank

:  Ecobank

Account Name

:  Eagles Youth Development Initiative

Account No.

:

722 500 3286

SWIFT-code

:

ECOCUGKA



Written by

Musoke .S. Twahah

Executive Director

Eagles Youth Development Initiative (EYDI)
Email: sebikejetwh@gmail.com or developyouth@gmail.com
Location; Kiwenda Cell, 12Km Gayaza-Zirobwe Road,Uganda, East Africa
Mobile:+256 782503231/755517328

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