REMARKS BY THE COMMISSIONER FOR BASIC

EDUCATION-MINISTRY OF EDUCATION & SPORTS

(DR. CLEOPHUS MUGENYI) DURING THE ONLINE
MEETING IN COMMEMORATION OF THE
INTERNATIONAL MENSTRUAL HYGIENE DAY 2020.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to address you at this very important

meeting as we commemorate the International Menstrual
Hygiene Day 2020 under the theme: It’s time for action.

This years’ theme emphasizes the urgency of this public health

issue, but also highlights the transformative power of improved
menstrual hygiene to empower the world’s women and girls and
unlock their economic and educational opportunities.

For Uganda to be able to achieve the sustainable development

goals, we need to address the critical challenges that affect
women and girls. It is also important to note that menstrual
health management is a critical aspect of addressing women’s

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and girls’ empowerment by alleviating a major constraint to
their participation in education and public life.

The MHM day has come at a time when globally the world is
struggling with the COVID 19 pandemic, which has affected the
social, economic, and health status of the population. Although
Uganda has not registered any deaths, the cases of COVID 19
positive people has increased over time which have necessitated
the increased days of lockdown to curb the spread of the virus.

To the adolescent girls and women, the COVID 19 pandemic

has presented unique challenges related to their sexual and
reproductive health. For instance, many adolescent girls and
women cannot afford the necessary materials such as sanitary
pads and soap; they cannot easily access services from health
facilities in case of challenges related to menstruation.

As a sector, we are equally affected because the crisis has led to

undoing some of the work where we had made gains in
promoting menstrual hygiene and health as well as addressing
challenges that come with growth and development. For
instance, many of our girls are already experiencing sexual

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violence and many are likely to be married off during this
pandemic.

Equally, we cannot implement some of the planned activities

that directly support menstrual health and girl’s empowerment
such as life skills education, mentoring and community
engagements.

Most importantly, we have very limited control over the

environment where the girls are living now. Some homes may
not have the right kind of facilities and information to support
menstrual health and this exposes our adolescent girls to
infections in the long run.

Given the existing economic challenges, many adolescent girls

may not be provided with the basic requirements such as
sanitary towels and the possibility of them returning to school is
uncertain.

Therefore, as we commemorate the International menstrual

hygiene Day 2020, it is important that we reflect on these
challenges in order to devise strategies to support our adolescent
girls during menstruation, and after the pandemic emergency
period.
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Realizing the challenges, the Ministry of Education and Sports
has already incorporated some the above issues into our
Education Sector Response Plan for COVID. The Plan focuses
on three areas; that is Continuity of learning, the learning agenda
and re-opening of the schools. The plan is guided by three
overarching objectives namely to minimize the adverse effects
of the virus to learners; to build the capacity of MoES, DLG and
other stakeholders to promote protection of all learners which
also includes support during menstruation; and to enhance
collaboration and coordination with development partners and
Ministries, departments and agencies.

We have already developed messages targeting parents on

positive parenting as well as prioritizing menstrual health
provisions in the day today basic requirements for the family.
We are also developing guidelines for WASH in schools after
the lockdown.

We also hope to learn from you partners on what works

currently in the field so that we can be able to scale it up in the
different interventions.

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Allow me to most sincerely thank you all for taking off time to
be part of this very important meeting. This is the only
opportunity that brings together key stakeholders to dialogue
and educate ourselves on the often unspoken issues of
menstruation hygiene management.

I therefore commend you all for the efforts in ensuring proper

menstrual health management in Uganda.

As I conclude, my message to all of you is that menstruation is a

global agenda therefore, we need to build synergies and
partnerships to support our adolescent girls to manage
menstruation with dignity so that stay in school and complete
school.

Allow me to my sincere appreciation and gratitude to the Gender

Unit for coordinating all the activities in commemoration the
International Menstrual Hygiene Day 2020.

As sector, we continue to pledge our support and commitment to

proper menstrual health management.

FOR GOD AND MY COUNTRY

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