The National Union of Disabled Persons of Uganda (NUDIPU) says lack of sanitary pads has continued to be the major cause pushing girls with disabilities out of school.
The Union’s chief executive officer, Esther Kyozira, says the most affected girls are those in rural schools whose parents cannot afford to buy them sanitary towels.
She made the remarks while receiving Shs10 million from Coca-Cola Beverages to facilitate the training of women with disabilities to make sanitary towels, which will be distributed to girls with disabilities in schools.
“There are other factors of course, you know that the training curriculum is normally not so good for our children with disabilities, the school environment – some children continue stigmatizing them while they are at school and sometimes the teachers do not know how to handle children with disabilities in schools especially those who go to inclusive schools,” Kyozira said.
According to the Ministry of Water and Environment’s (MWE) 2020 sector performance report, the use of safely managed sanitation in rural areas remains at a low 7.1% and in urban areas at 38.9%. According to experts, this affects girls without menstrual pads, who wish to clean themselves during menstruation periods.
