Improving water sanitation and hygiene infrastructure to keep girls in school - program 2024 to 202

Adolescent girls still face several challenges in their access to quality and gender-responsive education. Less than one-third of the girls who complete their primary school end up completing secondary school. Among the main reasons that explain adolescent girls’ feeble school attendance are the lack of access to sanitary products and WASH facilities in schools long unsafe walking distance to and from school and school-related gender-based violence. The ultimate outcome for this initiative is to enhance educational opportunities and increase girls’ retention in schools. Project activities include: (1) constructing or renovating 40 gender-sensitive WASH facilities and changing rooms in schools and 3 dormitories for girls; (2) training girls and boys on making reusable sanitary pads with locally available materials; and (3) providing schoolchildren with easily accessible reporting mechanisms for cases of violence. The project aims to directly reach 12 260 girls and 11 760 boys aged 10 to 19 years in 16 primary schools and 24 secondary schools in 8 underserved regions of mainland Tanzania.

The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) improved usage of clean and safe gender-responsive sanitation facilities and menstrual hygiene products among girls and boys aged 10 to 19 years in the project schools; (2) increased protection from school-based sexual and gender-based violence especially for girls aged 10 to 19 years in the project schools; and (3) strengthened enabling gender-responsive and safe environment to facilitate learning in the project schools.