The campaign theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is Inspire Inclusion. The day was celebrated on March 8th, 2024. The campaign resonates with the mission of Malaika Foundations, which is to encourage girls and women to grow into confident, capable women who can make informed life decisions.
Malaika wholeheartedly identifies itself with the Inspire Inclusion agenda by reflecting on the plight of women, more specifically the girl child. As part of this initiative, we responded to the plight of the girls in Budondo village in Jinja, Uganda, by making an initial donation of reusable sanitary pad kits for 100 girls to last them one year. This stems from a media story that many girls from poor families were abandoning school as well as other lifelong skilling initiatives in the area due to their inability to cope with menstrual challenges because they could not afford to buy sanitary pads.
Working with a local community-based organization in Budondo, the Growth for All Foundation, we were able to reach out to the group of girls. Ms. Fahima Nakaziba, the village Representative on the village council in Budondo village, applauded the partnership with Malaika Foundations for
contributing towards the plight of girls from poor families due to limited access to sanitary pads during monthly menstrual periods. She urged for further sustainable support in the form of inputs towards income-generating activities for the girls, like sewing machines, as well as agricultural implements like seeds and hoes.
Mr. Calvin Magezi, the head coach for football training in the local area, underscored the importance of training the girls in netball, rugby, volleyball, and football to enhance their wellbeing and health. However, the effective participation of girls from poor families is impaired by a lack of access to sanitary pads during menstrual periods. Some of them therefore resort to the use of medically inappropriate and hazardous materials like paper, grass, and soil packed in polythene bags in a desperate bid to cope with the challenges of menstruation management. This subsequently limits their effective participation in sports training activities during menstrual periods.
Norman Kirunda, co-founder of Growth for All Foundation, equally observed that girls from poor families are constrained in effectively participating in co-curricular activities like music, dance, and drama, besides sports. This limits the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), hence the need for partnerships towards the achievement of this goal.
Destined To Win Ministries International commended the heart of compassion by Ms. Aidah Nanyanzi, the founder of Malaika Foundations, for her support in ameliorating the plight of the girl child in coping with the menstrual cycle challenges among girls with limited access to sanitary pads, as this had contributed to increasing school drop-out rates, absenteeism, and vulnerability to manipulative men who sexually exploit young girls by demanding sex from them in exchange for small amounts of money to buy them sanitary pads. This rendered these girls vulnerable to sexual abuse besides early and unwanted pregnancies, being risk-prone to acquiring HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, apart from the risks of abortion and related consequences.
This situation contributes to broadening gender inequality, with girls lagging in education because of limited participation in social and economic activities, yet women constitute a large portion of Uganda’s population. Currently, up to 5 million girls of school-going age in Uganda have dropped out of school due to this challenge.
Mr. Hamza Sengooba from Malaika Foundations urged the leadership of Growth for All Foundation to ensure equitable access to the support provided and noted that Malaika Foundations recognizes the importance of concerted and complimentary efforts in supporting the girl child for social and economic development.
