Menstrual Hygiene and WASH Challenges: The Untold Story of Girls in South Sudan
UNICEF young Reporters shed light on the issues that affect the children and young people in South Sudan concerning Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services.
It is dawn, and you are waking up while in your menstruation period. You are expected to perform daily chores like sweeping the compound, cooking, collecting water, and attending school, yet you have no sanitary pads. That is the life of millions of girls across South Sudan, where sanitary pads and menstrual hygiene products are not only expensive but also inaccessible to many.
In collaboration with Afriyan, the UNICEF young Reporters shed light on the issues that affect the children and young people in South Sudan concerning Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) services. Many school-going girls face difficulty concentrating and going about their daily activities because of a lack of water, sanitation, and hygiene services, ranging from lack of clean water to menstrual hygiene products and a clean environment such as toilets. This has amounted to spending a lot of time collecting Water from distant water sources, contributing to late coming, irregularity, and generally low academic performance, which in the long run have contributed to school dropout and early marriage for many girls in South Sudan.
The Challenges
In a report published by UNESCO in collaboration with the Ministry of General Education and Instruction (Mo GEI) in 2020 based on an assessment conducted on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) in schools across all states and three administrative areas, actual adequate sources of Water were only available in 72% of the schools assessed, with boreholes the most common adequate source. However, only 45% of these boreholes lay near the school. At the same time, 40% of the assessed schools had no toilets. For the schools with toilets, access for children with disabilities was found to be extremely low, with only 40% accessible to learners with disabilities.
I spend at least 30 minutes walking in search of a water source. Sometimes, I do not even get Water, I must fetch at least three 20-litre jerrycans, which is 3 hours of my school time wasted because I must collect at least three jerrycans daily. Sometimes I end up going to school late, and because of this, I have declined my school performance.
While many schools cannot provide clean drinking water, soap for washing hands accessible to all, including children with disabilities, it is impossible to leave out sanitation and hygiene because they are interconnected. Clean water and soap are needed to wash hands frequently to kill germs that cause diseases. When no clean water is available, especially for children who touch surfaces occasionally, they are prone to diseases. This is away from the hardship students face in search of Water in their homes before and after going to school.
Additionally, limited access to Menstrual hygiene management products and facilities in schools also continues to be one of the leading concerns resulting in the rising rates of school absenteeism and dropout among adolescent girls in South Sudan, thus affecting their education and health.
Sometimes, we fear going to school when we are on our periods because we do not want to get embarrassed in the presence of our classmates, especially the boys. Pads should be free because it is a basic need. Also, there should be training and free resources to make pads and freely distributed to schools, health centres and village focal places for easy access by every girl or woman.
Many girls use clothes as sanitary pads in schools because they cannot afford them. This is embarrassing and negatively affects one's concentration and participation in class and school activities.
There is a need to partner and collaborate to engage the young people productively and meaningfully in Water, Sanitation and hygiene (WASH) activities if we are to move forward. The UN Agencies, government, partners, and donors should prioritize investing in WASH services by engaging the young people. Now is the time to act.
In a poem, Ludia Gabriel, a UNICEF Young Reporter, urges communities and the government to lead programmes and engagements in improving water, sanitation, and hygiene in South Sudan.
The poem entitled "The Essence of Life" identifies the importance of Water, the need to uphold Water, Sanitation and Hygiene through collaborative action.
The Essence of Life
Water, life's essence, pure and bright,
Yet to many, it is a daily plight,
Lack of access, inadequate facilities,
Poor hygiene, pollution, These are the realities.
Challenges are bound, but we must not yield,
For water sanitation is a cause Worth upholding.
Infrastructure, education, and funding, all play a part,
In ensuring every soul has a healthy heart.
Communities unite, Government, take lead,
Let's work together, Water's future to seeds.
From the wells that nourish our thirst,
To the rivers that cleanse our earth,
Let's protect and preserve what's ours,
For Water is the key to life's sweet flowers.
The challenges in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services and menstrual hygiene management in South Sudan are significant and require immediate attention. Menstrual hygiene management services such as proper disposal of menstrual hygiene management products like used pads, provision and establishment of visual promotion of good WASH behaviour and WASH clubs, and funding the maintenance of school WASH facilities will boost the WASH conditions in Schools.
