Missed Opportunities

The Project team will seize to acquire pad machines that will reduce time in production of the re-usable Sanitary Pads. These takes a multi-pronged approach to achieving menstrual equity by combining pad machines or washable pad programs and sexual reproductive health education to enable people to understand clearly what is required in production of Re-usable Sanitary Pads.

Unintended Consequences

The unintended, harmful consequences resulted from this project would be when the outcome wasn't achieved as expected of lay down plans or Unforeseen risks slow down the project because it takes time to understand them, analyse them and prepare management plans to monitor, act on and track them. Delays can also happen when risk management activities take longer than you expected and they push out other activities on the project schedule.

Project Narrative

Background Children’s Development Support Services (CDSS) is a Community Based Organization (CBO) with registration reference number ADJ/153/2022 at Adjumani District local government. It is an active member of Adjumani District NGO Forum. CDSS envisions a society that protects and brings care, love and compassion to enable orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC), their families and communities to pursue a dignified life, live their full potential and aspire for a great future. It does this by enabling linkages to educational opportunities through direct and indirect sponsorship by soliciting for support from individual and institutional well-wishers and from amongst local and international donor organisations. Children’s Development Support Services is a local complimentary initiative in Adjumani District whose founding aim was motivated by the need to provide an institutional response to deficiencies occasioned by oversights in identifying and addressing gravely pressing needs of vulnerable children. Adjumani is a long-standing refugee hosting community with diverse and often unmet demand for services that are responsive to the unique needs and circumstances of vulnerable and orphaned children. To date the CDSS been able and continues to respond to this disadvantaged group through the invaluable partnership and humane collaboration of local host communities, the private sector, local governments and to a limited extent, the international community of humanitarian interventions to address those needs that can be addressed within the limitations of the resource capacity of the coalition. The activities of CDSS are not mutually exclusive of on-going interventions by CBO’s NGO’s or even the international humanitarian agencies but rather complimentary and not a duplication nor a competition. Our Vision and Mission Our Vision is “Empowered People responsibly Shaping their communities” our Mission is “To empower underprivileged children, youth and women through access to quality Education, Sustainable Livelihoods and Water sanitation and hygiene”. Strategic Objectives of Children’s Development Support Services (CDSS) The following are the strategic objectives of CDSS; a. Support an inclusive and equitable multi-tiered appropriate education for OVC and related disadvantaged groups especially the girls-child. b. To promote access to safe water, proper sanitation and hygiene for improved quality of life of OVC and affected disadvantage communities. c. To strengthen the capacity of families for improved resilience, livelihoods and progressive living through enhanced income generation. d. Institutional strengthening of CDSS organizational capacity for quality service delivery. Project Summary The government of Uganda provides “free” primary education for all. However, statistics show that fewer than 38% of girls entering Primary 1 (the equivalent of kindergarten) in 2009 will complete their primary education. Many obstacles stand in the way of successful education for rural African girls but chief among them are issues relating to puberty, teen pregnancy, and early marriage. This project will increase the chances of academic success for 2500 Ugandan girls by:  Developing the self-supporting production of Re-useable locally produced, environmentally-sound sanitary pads for 2500 adolescent girls, which, within 2 years, will provide a sustainable source of free pads.  Training of peer educators who will teach their peers about menstrual hygiene, sexually transmitted diseases, and how to avoid early pregnancy. This program has been shown to bring those girls who have dropped out back to school.  Building girl-friendly latrines with discreet washrooms.  Producing the first movies in Madi, the local language, on puberty, growing up, and ways to protect against unwanted sexual advances.  Providing accurate health Education information and mentorship through awareness raising over radio and within School system on menstrual health management. Problem Statement. UNICEF estimates that 1 in 10 menstruating African girls skip school four to five days per month or drop out completely. In 2004, a survey of menstruating girls in Uganda found that “the biggest number of school dropouts are girls because of inconveniences during their menstrual periods.” This absenteeism leads to poor academic performance and subsequent dropping out of school. CDSS Project data support these findings. Since 2021, Ayuda and CDSS produced locally re-usable sanitary pads and distributed to menstruating girls in five primary schools. Initial results show a 30% drop in absenteeism in girls receiving sanitary pads and a marked improvement in academic scores. This project aims to expand this program to eleven more schools and make it self-supporting by setting up a local facility to manufacture an affordable, ecofriendly alternative to expensive, imported pads within two years. So for many South Sudanese refugees and host community girls, menstrual hygiene products are one of the most needed yet least supported by humanitarian organizations, access is even harder and “unfortunately, periods don’t stop when the classes are ongoing”! Young girls often share their sanitary towels (usually scrap cloth) with their mothers or other women in the household, though they are washed thoroughly between uses making venereal diseases rampant in spite washing shared sanitary pads said by Mrs. Edna Eiyo, Education Officer, Adjumani District. For the girls that go to school, they miss school for at least four to five days a month and 48 to 50 days a year because of lack of sanitary pads to use during menstruation. Issues about menstruation are not talked about due to embarrassment, lack of understanding and the low priority of such problems in the face of starvation, violence, death, illiteracy and the many struggles of daily life. These girls’ parents are living in absolute poverty and entrenched in poverty. Description of Project. This proposal aimed at providing sanitary products, for those girls who cannot afford so that they are able to stay in School consequently to reduce their absenteeism from the school and to attained high completion rate among girls. Our target is to support up to 2,500 girls to access free menstrual products and provide a sense of relief in Itirikwa and Ofua Sub-counties in Adjumani District, Uganda. Expected Results The project is expected to contribute towards the realization of the vision of When a Girl Stays in School, Everybody Wins. The project will contribute to increasing the completion rate and reduced absenteeism among the girls.