Empowering Young Women & Girls
For Her Foundation Programs & Impact
FOR HER FOUNDATION (FHF)is a non for profit established to support charitable and
educational projects designed to improve the welfare, status and potential of
African women and children and promote respect for their rights and to support the
advocacy work.
FHF programs help women save time and energy by using fuel-efficient stoves. This also helps build stronger connections and trust within communities. These connections give FHF a better understanding of what women need and help make projects more successful.
The programs supported by For Women, help women and their families to
take full advantage of these opportunities and provide a crucial support towards
greater prosperity and resilience.
We know how awesome it is to have more programs that help people in our community. For Her Foundation is going to keep making sure that girls and women have lots of chances to get the help and opportunities they need.
We know how awesome it is to have more programs that help people in our community. For Her Foundation is going to keep making sure that girls and women have lots of chances to get the help and opportunities they need.
By working with successful local and international partners, from NGOs to hospitals, For Women’s programs currently support
Health
When girls and women have access to safe and affordable sanitary
materials to manage their menstruation, they decrease their risk of infections. This
can have cascading effects on overall sexual and reproductive health, including
reducing teen pregnancy, maternal outcomes, and fertility. Poor menstrual hygiene,
however, can pose serious health risks, like reproductive and urinary tract
infections which can result in future infertility and birth complications.
Neglecting to wash hands after changing menstrual products can spread infections,
such as hepatitis B and thrush.
Studies have found that giving out sanitary pads to girls which is
part of our mandate at FHF leads to a significant reduction in sexually transmitted
infections and bacterial vaginosis .
Gender Equality
Promoting menstrual health and hygiene is an important means for
safeguarding women’s dignity, privacy, bodily integrity, and, consequently, their
self efficacy. Awareness of MHH contributes to building an enabling environment of
nondiscrimination and gender equality in which female voices are heard, girls have
choices about their future, and women have options to become leaders and managers.
The Environment
According the World Bank ; Every year, an average woman trashes about
150 kilograms of nonbiodegradable waste.
Disposable sanitary products contribute to large amounts of global waste. Ensuring women and girls have access to sustainable and quality products, and improving the management of the disposal of menstrual products, can make a big difference to the environment.
FHF is working closely with schools and communities to construct hygiene facilities are to meet the needs of women and girls. This includes gender-separated facilities with door locks, lighting, disposal bins, and handwashing stations with soap and water. Behavior changes and hygiene promotion campaigns incorporating MHH will be undertaken, targeting students, teachers, parents and the larger community.
Disposable sanitary products contribute to large amounts of global waste. Ensuring women and girls have access to sustainable and quality products, and improving the management of the disposal of menstrual products, can make a big difference to the environment.
FHF is working closely with schools and communities to construct hygiene facilities are to meet the needs of women and girls. This includes gender-separated facilities with door locks, lighting, disposal bins, and handwashing stations with soap and water. Behavior changes and hygiene promotion campaigns incorporating MHH will be undertaken, targeting students, teachers, parents and the larger community.
Teenage Motherhood
FHF is partnering with other Community Based Organizations to equip , support and empower teenage mothers through community outreaches to sensitize them and provide some basic needs like mama kits to the expectant ones , and sanitary pads , baby wear and educational materials.
Menstrual Health
Menstrual health refers to ‘a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, in relation to the menstrual cycle’. Menstrual health is central to achieving multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and fulfilling basic human rights. It is directly linked to SDG target 6.2, which aims to achieve ‘access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all… paying special attention to the needs of women and girls…’,
While the definition of menstrual health is multi-faceted and spans different sectors, The mental health indicators can be grouped into the following four areas:
- Awareness of menstruation before menarche (first menstruation).
- Access to hygienic menstrual materials such as sanitary pads, tampons, or cups. These can also be grouped into single-use and reusable materials.
- Access to a private place to wash and change.
- Participation in activities during menstruation, such as school, work and social activities.
Good menstrual hygiene management (MHM) plays a fundamental role in enabling women, girls, and other menstruators to reach their full potential. For Her Foundation is working with schools and communities to minimize the negative impacts of a lack of good menstrual health and hygiene.
Education
Menstruation health continues to be constrained by cultural taboos and discriminatory social norms. The resulting lack of information about menstruation leads to unhygienic and unhealthy menstrual practices and creates misconceptions and negative attitudes, which motivate, among others, shaming, bullying, and even gender-based violence.
ln our 2021 outreach projects in the slum areas of Makindye and Gaba , the participants expressed being victims of gender based violence during menstruation. We also found that more than 30% of our participants in mooni , Buwala and Buhugu in Mbale City don’t attend school when in their periods due to lack of access to pads .
Most of the schools in rural areas lack adequate water, sanitation, and hygiene services crucial to enable girls manage menstruation .Many studies argue that inadequate sanitary facilities affect girls’ experiences at school, causing them to miss classes during their menstruation or even drop out. For Her Foundation is working with schools to incorporate information on menstruation into the curriculum for both girls and boys to reduce stigma and contribute to better education and health outcomes.
For generations of girls and women, poor menstrual health and hygiene is exacerbating social and economic inequalities, negatively impacting their education, health, safety, and human development.