Adapted story from the field. Special contribution by JRS Chad (View original)

“If you educate a man, you educate an individual. If you educate a woman, you educate an entire nation.” ~Ghanaian intellectual James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey

Across the Lake Chad and Logone Oriental regions of Chad, adolescent girls are no longer missing school on the days they have their period.

Instead of feeling shame and discomfort, a new initiative is ensuring that through proper care and resources, young women in the country feel empowered to carry on with their schooling, gain confidence and independence, and are given the opportunity to contribute more than ever to their communities.

Since 2021, the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Chad – in consortium with ACRA and CELIAF, and the support of UNICEF – has participated in the production of Menstrual Health Management (MHM) kits. These kits are manufactured at a local-level by the Tchad Helping Hand Foundation. The initiative is made possible with funding from Education Cannot Wait, the UN's global fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises.

In addition to the kits, JRS has been holding MHM teacher trainings and different awareness raising activities within schools and communities to combat stigma around menstruation. Access to these trainings and kits is essential to protecting young women from public shame, missing classes or dropping out of school altogether, an important step in the region, where as many as one in ten girls misses school during their menstrual cycle, according to UNESCO.

More than 6,000 refugee and internally displaced students attending the local schools are now receiving these services, as the project continues to promote girls’ access to education.

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