Taking home the hygiene cup

South Sudanese schoolgirls have shown off their new knowledge of menstrual hygiene management (MHM) in a debate competition organised by SNV's Girls in Control programme.

Facilitated by SNV partner Hope for Children and Women Foundation, the series of debates between students from schools across Magwi country was the first event of its kind to take place in South Sudan. With eight schools in the first round, Magwi and Kerepi primary schools were the teams to make it to the final, competing in front of their competitors and classmates to debate the proposition “Proper Menstrual Hygiene Management is a Critical Driver of a Successful Education of a Girl” at at Borongole Secondary school in Kerepi on April 17. While Magwi Primary took home the prize on the day, Girls in Control programme manager Pasquina Acidria said all participants in the competition had demonstrated outstanding confidence and knowledge of their subject. "The girls demonstrated an outstanding change - from feeling shy and inferior about menstruation to total confidence during their inter-school and cross-county school debate competition," Ms Acidria said, underlining the contribution of the Girls in Control programme to changing attitudes around menstruation. Education directors from the two counties praised the success of the competition in uniting students from different schools, as well as building knowledge on MHM, pledging to continue the competition in future years and expand it to include new schools outside the Girls in Control programme area.