GIRLS MISSED SCHOOL

“Girls report experiencing stress, shame, embarrassment, confusion and fear due to a lack of
knowledge, an inability to manage menstrual flow or from being teased by peers,” said a 2012
UNICEF study on MH in Masbate and Metro Manila schools.

“These challenges may negatively impact girls’ learning experiences and result in absenteeism,
distraction, decreased school participation and falling behind in course work,” it added.

To resolve these problems, UNICEF advised the Philippines to introduce menstruation

education among schools, to improve WASH facilities, and to make MH resources more
accessible for poor girls.

While many of us might find these menstrual myths funny, several women and girls are
practicing these until today. Misinformation will always be among the world’s biggest and
deadliest epidemics. – Rappler.com

Alongside missing basic infrastructure, another prominent reason why girls skip school during
periods is because of the fear of staining their school uniform and being ridiculed. This is due
to social stigmas associated with periods - such as periods being dirty, unhygienic and impure.

Lack of water and sanitation at school poses challenges to menstrual hygiene.  “The toilets
have no good doors, and anyone can see when you are changing. (IDI 25, girl aged 12)”.8  “…the
boys are using it so we can’t use the toilet. The toilet in school is always busy because it’s only
one. (IDI, Girl)”.10 o Only 13 out of 285 rural schools in Sierra Leone have toilets that meet the
national standards.16 o In rural areas of Bolivia, pit latrines(63.7%) and open defecation (10.8%)
are the most common forms of sanitation in schools. 15 o In the Philippines a study found that
there are an average of 330 girls for every partially functional school latrine.10 o The
construction of gender-separated latrines was found to substantially increase national school
enrolment in India among pubescent age girls. 3  “When girls change their sanitary pads they
just throw it in the bowl” (Manila School, FGD, Boy student) 10 o Girls report disposing of used
menstrual materials by throwing them into rivers, latrines, dustbins6 ; carrying materials
home6, 13, ; leaving materials outside on roadsides or in farms5 ; burying materials13; or
flushing materials down the toilet8, 23 . o In Masbate, Philippines, only one school out of nine
had trash bins located within the girls’ latrines.10 o When used menstrual cloth or sanitary pads
are deposited in latrines or toilets, they can damage the sanitation systems. 11,12,13,20 Lack of
appropriate sanitary protection materials affects girls’ participation and wellbeing at school 
“It is sometimes difficult to get even pieces of cloth and they are old and dirty. Even our
mothers do not always have enough of them (girls’ FGD in Burkina Faso)”.12  “I didn’t know what
was happening [at menarche] or what to do to manage menstruation. I used cotton wool, pages
from an exercise book, leaves from trees. I suffered much embarrassment at school because I
leaked and stained my uniform.” (woman, FGD in Tanzania)11 o Girls report resorting to
unhygienic materials to manage their menses that may lead to infection, including old
clothing13,14 , a shoe cloth6 , towels13, tissue paper pads5 , pads or cloth.6,13 Inadequate
information makes girls unprepared to manage menses.  “I got my period early one morning. I
felt bad. I was scared to go to school and I hadn’t told anyone because I was in the dormitory
and I didn’t have my mom or anything. I realized I had to figure it out myself” (girl, IDI,
Independencia). 13 o Many girls are entirely unaware of menstruation prior to their first
menstruation. 6,14,17 o Many of those that learn about menstruation are first taught by mass
media 9 , their friends 6,10,13,14 , close relatives 13,14 , or their mothers5,18, , rather than a
formal education setting.  In a Nigerian study, only 8.8% of girls had learned about
menstruation through either school teachers or health workers.5 o Girls across cultures and
countries have described menarche as a negative experience, expressing feelings of fear,
confusion, shame, and worry. 5,6,10,13,17,19  In Pakistan, 58.3% of 1275 girls experienced
fear, while 42.2% experienced worry at first menarche. 4  “I want to know how to take care of
myself and the things you should do… and not do during menstruation.(IDI 2, School 1)”. 6 o
While cloth is considered a viable cheap alternative to pads in many countries, girls often avoid
drying them in the sunlight, which may lead to infection. 6,13 o Girls receive incorrect
information

The launch of the Oky Philippines app in BARMM marks the start of a wider initiative in the
country to make this innovative digital solution accessible to all Filipino girls and women
and provide them with girl-friendly information on menstruation, puberty, and reproductive
health.

Oky is the world's first period tracker app for girls and created with girls. It provides
information about menstruation in fun, creative and positive ways, straight into girls' hands
through the tools they use every day – mobile phones.

anila, 26 May 2023 – Government agencies and development organizations called for better
measures to provide young Filipinos with accurate and trustworthy information about menstrual
health during the nationwide launch of the Oky Philippines Period Tracker App, an app made for
and by Filipino girls.

The app was launched in time for the global Menstrual Hygiene Day, observed every 28th of
May, through the partnership of the Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Health
(DOH), Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM), and National Youth Commission
(NYC), with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Australian Government,
and Plan International. The event, “Oky for you, Oky for Me: Say hello to the period tracker app
for Filipino girls, by Filipino girls,” tackled issues about menstrual health and hygiene
management and featured demonstrations of the easy-to-use app.

According to DepEd, 8 out of 10 schools provided access to sanitary pads to girls during the
school year 2020-2021 [1] – a marked increase from 2017-2018, when only 60% of schools
provided menstrual hygiene products. While the improved access to menstrual hygiene products
in schools is remarkable, menstruation and sexual reproductive health rights remain sensitive
topics for discussion. More concerning is that myths and misconceptions about menstrual health
proliferate on social media – hindering girls’ access to important information critical to
understanding their right to reproductive health.

The Oky Philippines app was developed based on Oky, the world’s first menstruation education
and period tracker app co-created by UNICEF with girls for girls. The app, supported by the
Australian Government, is a joint product of DepEd, DOH, POPCOM, NYC, and UNICEF
Philippines, in partnership with Plan International. In localizing the app, the team consulted with
girls living in different contexts in the Philippines, including indigenous peoples, out-of-school
children, and children with disabilities. The results from the talks underwent vetting by
adolescent health experts from government agencies and development organizations. Oky
Philippines also includes content relevant to the Islamic culture, co-created with adolescents in
the Bangsamoro Region.

The Oky Philippines is a new platform for adolescents, which will be deployed through existing
government programs such as DepEd’s Comprehensive Sexual Education and the WASH in
Schools programs and the joint campaign “I CHOOSE #MalayaAkongMaging” led by DOH and
POPCOM. Moreover, sexual reproductive health is one of the seven priority areas of the DOH
campaign “Health is Life,” which focuses on health promotion to improve health outcomes. The
Oky app is also consistent with NYC’s Philippine Youth Development Plan for Health.

The Australian Government supports the localization of the app in the Philippines as part of its
AUD 48-million Indo-Pacific Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights COVID-19 Surge Response.
The program supports the Philippines, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.

Oky Philippines is free to download from Google Play Store. The app will be available in Luzon,
Visayas, and Mindanao.

The Oky Philippines app was developed based on Oky, the world's first menstruation education
and period tracker app co-created by Unicef with girls, for girls. The app, supported by the
Australian Government, is a joint product of DepEd, DOH, Popcom, NYC and Unicef Philippines,
in partnership with Plan International.

Oky was developed and is owned by UNICEF. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have
any questions about the use of your data in Oky. To contact us please email hello@okyapp.info.

MANILA, Philippines – The newly launched “Oky Philippines” period tracking and menstrual
health app has been developed for Filipino girls, by Filipino girls.

Various government agencies and development organizations launched on Friday, May 26, the
Oky Philippines app, highlighting the need to provide young Filipinos with accurate and reliable
information about menstrual health .

Oky Philippines was developed based on Oky, a menstruation education and period tracker app
developed by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef). The new app is a joint project of
the Department of Education (DepEd), the Department of Health (DOH), the Commission on
Population and Development (PopCom), the National Youth Commission (NYC), and Unicef, and
is specialized to the context of Filipino girls.

The project team consulted with girls living with different backgrounds across the Philippines.
These included indigenous peoples, out-of-school youth, and children with disabilities.