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

The United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative

Nepal

Nepal is a mountainous country in South Asia of 28.5 million people, 81% of whom live in rural areas. Life expectancy at birth is 70 years. Its per capita Gross Domestic Product, purchasing power parity, is 2458 (USD). The gross enrollment in secondary school has been on a steady incline since 2007, rising from 42% to more than 70% for girls, who are enrolling at slightly higher rates than boys.^[1]

For UNICEF in Nepal, what began as a programme to boost child survival and infrastructure for drinking water and sanitation, has widened to include women’s empowerment and self-sustainability, social & child protection, and governance and emergency preparedness, and the direct participation of children and adolescents in the planning processes of government and civil society. The focus of UNICEF’s programme in Nepal has continuously changed over the years to meet the changing needs of Nepali children, adolescents and women.^[2]

Though Nepal is not the recipient country for WinS4Girls program implementation, we are supporting the WinS program through regular development program to ensure access and maintain WASH facilities in schools with focus on child, gender and disability friendly WASH facilities including menstrual hygiene management to reduce absenteeism and promote better learning opportunities.

Quick Facts
Percentage of schools with: Basic drinking water Basic sanitation or toilets	81% 68%
Literacy rate for youth (15 - 24 years old)	85
Primary education completion rate	77
Secondary education completion rate	42
Gender parity rate in secondary schools competition (number of females to male)	0.76

Source

Global Education Monitoring Report, Education for People and Planet: Creating Sustainable Solutions for All. UNESCO, 2016. Paris, FR.

Partners

Department of Education and its sub-national offices.
Department of Water Supply and Sewerage and its sub-national offices.
Nepal Red Cross Society.
Local NGOs.
Health Research and Social Development Forum (HERD).

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:

Research findings for advocacy.
Teacher/Facilitators training modules.
Basic hardware facilities.

Research

During the last two years period, UNICEF Nepal has consolidated past learning on WinS and has been able to conduct research as well as document good practices as mentioned above. The research project, titled Analysis of Menstrual Hygiene Practices in Nepal: The Role of WASH in Schools Programme for Girls Education, offered insights into girl’s attendance in school and participation in education, as well as the status and perception on existing WASH services. The research included 12 schools from 3 districts. Similarly, UNICEF has compiled all its learning while working in software and basic hardware services and has developed the training module and reference materials for basic hardware facilities on WinS can be found in the Resources Section.

Visit the Resources Section to download the implementation package

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