Empower Girls in Uganda with Menstrual Health

20,858: The number of girls who have received DfG Kits in 2017 so far through our local DfG Centers (not counting tens of thousands more distributed for free by volunteers!)

23: The number of local full-time jobs created in countries with high rates of unemployment.

38: The number of Micro-Enterprises launched in East Africa alone, providing community-based health education and DfG Kits.

1,634: The number of people who have donated through GlobalGiving to make this all possible.

It’s incredible to see what a huge impact we can have when we join hands for a common cause. Days for Girls brings together women (and men!) from every walk of life. Maya, from the bustling Nepali capital of Kathmandu shares training tips over Facebook with Christine, from rural Uganda. Fahimah, a practicing Muslim, passes out thread while her training partner Alice, a Christian, demonstrates DfG Kit making. Sarah, a lifelong Democrat, talks DfG Kit sales strategy with Dianne, a passionate Republican. With all of the incredible diversity of the Days for Girls community, there is one common thread – a desire to see girls and women empowered with health and hygiene solutions so that they can live their fullest lives.

And this year, we added a new goal – to be able to thoroughly track and evaluate the impact the Days for Girls is having around the globe so that our entire community can see the incredible difference that is being made with something as simple as a washable pad. At this time last year we began the journey of creating a simple yet accessible survey tool that would help us better track the global reach of DfG. It seemed impossible – a survey that could be used in remote locations, by women with little technological experience, and in any cultural context. It took a lot of testing, refining, and do-overs, but in the end we developed something really special.

The DfG monitoring & evaluation tool is a simple survey that can be used on a smart phone, with or without Internet. Users have the option of conducting a quick pulse of 10 questions on a large group, or diving deep with our individual survey. These surveys are already helping us track our results in real time, and respond to feedback from the field even faster. The tool is available to partners, so that we can contribute to a global knowledge base of menstrual hygiene management.

We look forward to sharing even more exciting numbers and results with our GlobalGiving family in the year to come. Your support means that Maya, Christine, Fahimah, Alice, Sarah, and Dianne can keep working together to reach Every Girl. Everywhere. Period.