Menstrual hygiene project registers success in Chikwawa

Malawi: The Agenda for Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) has been a success in Chikwawa, particularly among girls in the district's public primary schools.

This was discovered during the agenda for the MHM (Msambo waukhondo) Success Story Capturing Meeting on August 27, 2022, in Chikwawa.

Austin Kamanula, the Chair of the District Social Mobilisation Committee for Chikwawa District, stated that the reports and feedback his office is receiving from stakeholders and the community on the MHM agenda show progress despite reverses in most public primary schools in the district, as great improvement is being achieved in the district.

According to the schools, they have visited, the results show that most girls in the district are now aware of how to take care of themselves in terms of MHM, which has improved the turnout of students in the schools, particularly the girls.

However, resources were limited, making it difficult to reach some primary schools, according to Kamanula.

Charles Muyanika, District Schools Health and Nutrition Co-ordinator for Chikwawa District Education Office, stated that the MHM Agenda has improved education standards for girls and that the project has helped so much that there is a lower school dropout rate as compared to when it was started, and that the sensitization and workshops that were carried out during the MHM Agenda implementation period have lowered the absenteeism rate from 9% to 3%.

Doreen Mwalija, Mother Group Secretary for Chikwawa Primary School, thanked the government for implementing the MHM agenda and making it so vibrant, as well as using it as a tool for keeping a girl child in school and having full access to education.

Mwalija invited other partners and stakeholders to come and participate in the project's implementation, as the need is great.

Meanwhile, Mary Gwiremaso, a Standard 6 pupil at Chikwawa Primary School, stated that before the project began, the girls were facing problems in accessing education, especially when the menstruation cycle began, as there were no change rooms for the girls at the school.

The Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) agenda is supported by the Malawi government in collaboration with UNICEF Malawi.

The agenda for the MHM success story capturing meeting in Chikwawa was held on August 27, 2022, and the same meeting is expected to be held in Machinga and Nkhotakota Districts in the future.