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In Yemen, poor water and sanitation facilities are commonplace in hundreds of schools, making children vulnerable to diseases that hamper attendance and lead to higher drop-out rates. “One might think refurbishing school latrines or water faucets is a minor job with a minor impact, but believe me, it’s important and does contribute greatly to increase girls’ school attendance.”– Abdullah Al Rabi, Education office Manag-er in Al Maton District, Al Jawf Gov.
The schools in Al Maton District; like Al Saleel School, lacks WASH facilities and latrines, where students at these schools suffer from these matters. However, Building Founda- tion for Development (BFD), funded by Yemen Humanitarian Fund (YHF), constructed two latrines, one for girls and another one for boys. For the first time, the girl students at Al Saleel School had their sanitation facilities. Besides, BFD targeted 14 schools near IDPs hosting settlements in Khab Wa sha'af, Al Maton and Al Hazm Districts, Al Jawf Gov. The activities of the project included rehabilitation/construction of 28 latrines units, con- necting 14 schools to the nearest water source, providing proper sanitation in most of them– benefiting 1,239 students in three districts, 618 boys and 621 girls. Furthermore, BFD supplied hygiene kits (HKs) and cleaning materials to 16 schools.
“Now I am delighted with the new latrines; I can wash my face and hands during the break and after playing.” latifa Ali said, a 9-year-old girl IDP student. She continued, “It took me more than 30 minutes to head home and use the bathroom because there were no latrines in our school. Now I can use the latrine whenever I need to.” latifa Ali and her classmates are benefiting from segregated latrines that provide privacy, where it was estimated that less than 5 per cent of schools in Al Jawf have separate latrines for girls.
Shared-gender latrines and poor overall sanitation discourage girls' attendance school; nevertheless, simple low-cost solutions can immediately boost girls' chances to com- plete education. Improve access to clean water, latrines, and provision hygiene kits indi- cate that, both girls and boys will stay healthy and remain in school longer.