​Christians and Muslims in Uganda are helping to break the silence on menstruation and remove stigma and shame through the first programme to work with faith communities in this way.
 
The Dignity for Girls programme has provided 1,788 girls in 24 Anglican, Catholic and Muslim primary schools with education on puberty and menstruation plus packs of reusable sanitary pads, knickers and soap. 
 
In addition, more than 24,600 people have been reached through awareness raising activities
and menstrual hygiene management (MHM) training, including 872 parents, 350 faith leaders and faith education chiefs and 287 teachers. 
 
Asima Evers, 14, who is in Primary Six at Kitoba Primary School in Hoima District in Western Uganda, says: 'I learned how a girl can manage her menstruation. And they told us that menstruation is not a disease but is normal and natural for everyone. I feel good! At this time I feel so good!'
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​Studies indicate that half of women and girls in many developing countries are forced to use rags, leaves or paper to manage their periods. Difficulty managing periods is now recognised as a major reason why girls miss school or even drop out altogether. 
 
Girls who drop out of school early are at high risk of teenage pregnancy and child marriage and a very poor future. In Uganda, 23% of girls aged 15-19 have already started bearing children.
 
Dignity for Girls aims to help girls stay in school by working with the country’s three biggest faith communities: the Catholic Church, Church of Uganda and Uganda Muslim Supreme Council. Faith groups are the biggest sector of civil society with 85% of Ugandans describing themselves as Christian and 14% as Muslim. They run half of schools in Uganda so persuading them to take menstrual health seriously has the potential to benefit millions of Ugandan girls. 

As well as awareness raising and training, Dignity for Girls has also improved school latrines, built hand washing facilities and girls' changing rooms and installed rainwater harvesting tanks. Studies show that the very poor condition of many school toilets and lack of water for washing are a major deterrent to menstruating girls.

It is teaching the girls – and sometimes the boys too – how to make reusable sanitary pads. When asked why he wanted to take part, Ssekyanzi Yunus, 13, in Primary 6 at Kasana UMEA Primary School, says: 'I need to know about these things because one day I will be a father.'

At the headquarters’ level, the three faiths have been considering how to make their schools more girl-friendly. The Church of Uganda has just approved an MHM policy for all its schools, and the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council has produced a draft policy – the first time either faith group has considered MHM before.
 
The Muslim community has introduced a day in the annual Muslim calendar to promote good MHM and celebrate women and girls. Dignity Day will be held every last Friday in June. It was launched in the National Mosque by His Eminence the Mufti of Uganda in front of 4,000 men and 600 women. His speech was broadcast across Uganda. 
 
Dignity Day organiser Hajjat Sebyala Aphwa says: ‘I cannot tell you how amazing it was to hear the Mufti talk about this subject in the mosque – before, this was a no-go area and you would never talk about it in the mosque.’
 
And a Catholic bishop has been touring Jinja Diocese with a pack of sanitary pads, asking his congregations: ‘Do you know what this is? Do you realise that you are supposed to provide these for your daughters?'

​These are just some of the extraordinary impacts that we've achieved by working with faith groups to raise awareness of girls' menstrual health.

Faith in Water and our partner Alliance of Religions and Conservation is looking for a consultant to carry out a final project evaluation on our Dignity for Girls menstrual hygiene management project in Uganda to identify the key achievements and the lessons that can be learned from the programme.

The £245,000 project works at a strategic national level and a district level with three faith groups – the Church of Uganda, the Catholic Church of Uganda and the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, which are all major providers of education in Uganda. It aims to promote menstrual health, tackle harmful ideas and build a more supportive environment for girls and women in Uganda. 

Key outputs 
Applicants are invited to submit applications to conduct a final evaluation and final evaluation report (30 pages)  to assess and demonstrate the extent to which the project has improved girls’ experience of menstruation in targeted schools and contributed to building a more supportive environment for girls and women in Uganda.
 
The successful candidate/s will divide their focus between Kampala and rural parts of Uganda (engaging with D4G project implementing partners) and the UK (engaging with head office staff from ARC/Faith in Water). 

Timeline and budget
The final version of the evaluation report needs to be completed by 14 July 2019. As part of the evaluation, the evaluator is requested to attend a lessons-learned project conference in Kampala that is scheduled for Wednesday 12 June 2019. 
 
ARC will enter into a fixed-fee-contract with the successful candidate, amounting to £5,000 for services rendered. Travel and accommodation to/within Uganda will be arranged and covered by FIW and local partners.
 
How to apply: 
Please submit an application via email to info@faithinwater.org to include your CV and a covering letter of no more than three pages, outlining:

• Your understanding of the requirements and of evaluating the impact of menstrual health and WASH programmes.
• Your expertise and experience in the field carrying out final evaluations; your experience in the area of menstrual health and WASH; your experience in the region (Uganda and/or East Africa).
• Your proposed approach in delivering this evaluation, including number of work days.

 
More information here. Application deadline: 27 May 2019