Empowerment for women and girls: Menstrual hygiene and education

With 224 million inhabitants, Nigeria is the most populous African country and has the largest economy in Africa. However, the country faces a number of challenges. The jihadist organization Boko Haram, which mainly operates in the north-east, has been carrying out attacks on villages, towns and civilians since 2009, destroying houses, churches, schools, stores, wells and fields, destroying crops, abducting and killing women, men and children. Those who can, flee from the attacks. Sexual violence is a huge problem. Many girls and women have lost their husbands or parents, have been abducted and raped. They have to submit to the men in their lives and often do not have the chance to receive an education or vocational training. Girls are married off early, it is not worth investing in their education, so they often have little chance of making their own decisions.

Monthly menstruation is often perceived as a disgrace and women and girls hide at home, partly because they have no access to sanitary products. The workshops on the production of high-quality, washable and therefore reusable sanitary towels not only combat menstrual poverty, but also enable girls and women to actively participate in daily life. Many of them also produce the sanitary towels in order to sell them and earn money.

Program Goals

• Help for girls and women who have experienced sexual violence: Medical care goes hand in hand with trauma treatment and psychosocial support as well as the offer of legal assistance. Care for girls and women can also be organized within the network of partner organizations. 
• Advocacy in a very patriarchal society for the equality of women and girls, for a new concept of masculinity based on equality in order to strengthen the rights of women and girls. 
• Commitment to the education and training of girls and women.
• The production of high-quality and reusable menstrual hygiene products that enable girls and women to participate in daily life during their periods and strengthen their dignity. At the same time, menstrual poverty is combated, the environment is protected and the graduates of the course are given an opportunity to earn money by selling pads they have made themselves.  

Target group

• Women and girls suffering from violence and oppression
• Women and girls who have no access to menstrual hygiene and are therefore excluded from participating in daily life during their period. 

Activities

• Advocacy for the equality of girls and women and for a masculinity based on equal rights
• Help for girls and women affected by gender-based violence
• Organization of further education and training measures to empower women and girls
• Organization of RUMP workshops on the production of high-quality, reusable menstrual hygiene products, 
• Cooperation between girls and women from Muslim and Christian backgrounds as a contribution to promoting peace between religions

Project progress

Three to four RUMP workshops are held each year, each with four partner organizations that select the participants. In the selection process, care is taken to ensure that Muslims and Christians are represented in roughly equal numbers, so that contacts are made between the otherwise often separate religious groups and a practical contribution is made to peacebuilding. The participants' reports make it clear that the RUMP project makes a significant contribution to enabling women and girls to participate in daily life without interruption, to combating menstrual poverty and at the same time to making a contribution to environmental protection. 

Advocacy for the rights of women and girls requires staying power. Together with the Mission 21 network, we can succeed in bringing about change.