When Dignity Fails: Uganda’s Menstrual Health and WASH Gaps Keep Girls Out of Class

In Summary:

Uganda is being urged to treat menstrual health and clean water access as urgent justice issues, not side concerns, as experts warn that gaps in sanitation, affordability, and school infrastructure continue to keep girls out of class and women underserved. A virtual CSW70 forum hosted by Love Binti International spotlighted the human rights, education, and development costs of failing to integrate menstrual health and WASH into public systems, with calls for stronger policy, financing, and community-led solutions.

Uganda’s progress in expanding access to safe water and sanitation is being overshadowed by a stubborn reality: for many schoolgirls and women, dignity remains difficult to secure. Despite government efforts that have improved access to safe water sources and sanitation in many rural areas, menstrual health services and WASH infrastructure still fall short where they matter most — in schools, homes, and communities where girls are expected to learn, grow, and thrive.

For thousands of schoolgirls, the absence of menstrual materials, privacy, and reliable sanitation continues to translate into missed lessons, shame, and avoidable dropout risk.That concern was at the center of a virtual session hosted by Love Binti International during the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) Forum, under the theme

“No Justice Without Dignity: Menstrual Health, Water Access, and Women’s Rights.”

The message was clear: when systems fail to support menstrual health and clean water access, they are not only neglecting basic needs, but also limiting education, participation, safety, and opportunity for women and girls.In Uganda, the consequences are already visible. A 2025 audit cited during the session found that 64% of schoolgirls miss classes because they lack menstrual materials or study in environments without adequate sanitation facilities. That figure reflects more than inconvenience. It points to a structural failure that affects learning outcomes, confidence, and long-term opportunity. When girls are unable to manage menstruation safely and privately, their education is interrupted, their health may be compromised, and stigma can deepen the sense that their needs do not belong in public policy. Over time, these barriers feed into broader inequalities that women and girls continue to face across the country.

Love Binti International Founder and CEO Elle Yang said access to menstrual health and water should never be treated as a luxury. Her remarks framed the issue in moral and developmental terms, insisting that the failure to invest in these essentials weakens the full participation of women and girls in society. That argument resonated strongly throughout the session, where speakers linked menstrual health to school retention, gender equality, public health, and economic empowerment. The discussion underscored that dignity is not only a social value; it is also a policy outcome that depends on sustained public investment and institutional commitment.The link between menstrual health and education is especially significant in Uganda, where the Gender in Education Sector Policy of 2016 already recognizes the need to remove structural and socio-cultural barriers that hinder girls’ retention and performance. The policy envisions gender-responsive teaching, safe school environments, and gender-aware practices that support equity in learning. Yet the gap between policy and lived experience remains wide. Many schools still lack the kind of toilets, water points, disposal systems, and supplies that make menstruation manageable without embarrassment or disruption.

In that space between promise and practice, girls absorb the cost.Governance and systems strategist Neville Okwaro argued that menstrual health should be built into public systems through policy, budgeting, and service delivery rather than treated as an isolated project issue. His point reflected a broader frustration shared by participants: too often, commitments are made in speeches and strategies, but they do not translate into the funding lines, infrastructure, or accountability mechanisms needed to change daily life. Without that integration, menstrual health remains vulnerable to neglect, while the same gaps in water and sanitation keep reappearing year after year.Patricia Akoth of Love Binti International drew attention to the social and infrastructural barriers that continue to make menstruation a burden for many girls. Stigma, she noted, remains powerful, especially where poor facilities force girls to manage their periods in unsafe or undignified conditions. Yet she also pointed to community-led solutions that are gaining momentum, including reusable sanitary pad production that can support menstrual health while creating livelihoods for women. Such approaches, she suggested, show that local innovation can help address both poverty and dignity when backed by serious policy support.Water access was another major concern in the discussion, with Caroline Owashaba, founder of Action for Youth Development Uganda, emphasizing that reliable water sources do more than improve hygiene. They reduce the time women and girls spend collecting water, improve safety, and open space for participation in education, work, and decision-making. In that sense, water is not only an infrastructure issue; it is a question of freedom and opportunity. When access is unreliable, women and girls carry the burden in ways that are often invisible but deeply consequential.

Neema Dumo brought these threads together by stressing that menstrual health and WASH must be addressed together because they are interconnected drivers of dignity, education, and gender equality. That integrated approach is increasingly seen as necessary, not optional. A girl cannot fully benefit from menstrual health support if her school lacks water or private sanitation. Nor can safe water alone solve the challenge if menstrual products remain unaffordable or inaccessible. The systems must work together, or the gaps will persist.The urgency of the issue was further sharpened by recent public remarks from Uganda’s First Lady and Minister of Education and Sports, Janet Kataaha Museveni, who has repeatedly framed teenage pregnancy and early marriage as major threats to the country’s development. Speaking during National Menstrual Hygiene Day last year at Lugogo Cricket Oval in Kampala, she described these challenges as a development emergency and said her ministry had integrated menstrual health into the curriculum while working with partners to improve WASH facilities and expand access to menstrual materials. Her comments signaled political awareness of the problem, but for many observers, awareness is no longer the main issue. Implementation is.That sentiment was echoed by Speaker of Parliament Anita Among during the International Women’s Day 2026 Breakfast Meeting at Parliament earlier this month, where she said reducing maternal mortality remains a national priority and called for greater investment in women and girls’ empowerment, including menstrual health, education, and financial inclusion. Her remarks pointed to the wider policy logic behind the current debate: when girls are supported to stay in school and women are empowered with the tools to participate fully in society, the benefits extend far beyond health. They reach the economy, governance, and national development.Still, the frustration remains that official messaging has not yet produced results that are consistently visible and felt by school-going girls and women across Uganda. The challenge is not a lack of language or recognition. It is the gap between statements and systems, between policy and practical access, between the idea of dignity and the daily experience of too many girls. The CSW70 discussion served as a reminder that menstrual health and clean water are not peripheral concerns. They are foundational to justice, and without them, equality remains incomplete.