WASH in Schools for Girls: Advocacy and Capacity Building for MHM through WASH in Schools

The United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative

Eritrea

Eritrea is located in the Horn of Africa and is home of more than 3 million people. 65% of its citizens live in rural areas. Its life expectancy at birth is 64 years. Its per capita Gross Domestic Product, purchasing power parity, is 1411 (USD). in 2015 enrollment in secondary school was on the decline as just 31% of boys were enrolled, and still fewer girls were enrolled at 28%.

Children and women remain especially vulnerable to under-nutrition and residual effects of decades of war that limit young children’s physical growth and development. Many of Eritrea’s population continue to be vulnerable to threats posed by unequal access to food, health services, education, social protection and employment. UNICEF’s current partnership with the Government focuses on equity and gender equality, targeting the hard-to-reach and most vulnerable children and women throughout the country. After several years of improvement, secondary school enrollment has been declining recently, and the gap between males and females is persistent.^[1]

The WinS4Girls program in Eritrea aimed to build knowledge and skills of girl learners and to advocate for a more supportive school environment resulting in increased attendance rates of girls at primary, middle and secondary level.

Quick Facts
Percentage of schools with: Basic drinking water Basic sanitation or toilets	59% 56%
Literacy rate for youth (15 - 24 years old)	81
Primary education completion rate	73%
Secondary education completion rate	50%
Gender parity rate in secondary schools competition (number of females to male)	-

Source

National Statistics Office (NSO) [Eritrea], Fafo AIS. Eritrea Populaiton and Health Survey 2010, Asmara, Eritrea: National Statistics Office and Fafo Institute for Appled International Studies, 2013.

Partners

Ministry of Education
Ministry of Health.
Ministry of National Development.
National Union of Eritrean Women.
UNICEF (Education & WASH sections and Gender & C4D focal person)

IMPLEMENTATION PACKAGE

Under WinS4Girls, UNICEF worked with ministries of education and other partners at national level (typically through MHM Working Groups) to develop and promote a MHM intervention package informed by the WinS4Girls formative research.

Depending on the country, the intervention packages have taken different forms in response to the diverse needs expressed by girls, their teachers, and their families during the research. For example, they may include national or sub-national policies and guidelines; learning and communication materials; and training modules for teachers, health workers, and peer educators. In some cases, the package has included infrastructure development and pad production or distribution.

The package includes the following:

Girls MHM booklet for self-directed study.
Life skills textbook for teachers to use with their learners in the classroom.

Research

A situation analysis was in schools across several regions including focus group discussions with girls, mothers, fathers and boys; in-depth interviews with girls; school observations and key-informant interviews with school directors, health facilities heads; Parent Teacher and Student Association chair persons and science teachers.

Visit the Resources Section to download the implementation package

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