'''''Countries:''' India, Kenya and Bangladesh''
=== India, Kenya and Bangladesh: Raising awareness on MHM ===
WASH United utilizes fun, games and positive communication as effective ingredients for challenging menstrual taboos and empowering girls. WASH United has trained over 2.300 students (including 500 boys) and more than 60 teachers on MHM in India, Kenya and Bangladesh between 2013 and 2014 in menstrual hygiene management.
'''''The project and the experiences:'''''
Menstrual hygiene is a topic that is hardly included into students’ education. To change this, WASH United uses innovative games, videos and discussions to address menstrual hygiene management (MHM). Together with local partners, WASH United has trained over 2.300 students (including 500 boys) and more than 60 teachers on MHM in India, Kenya and Bangladesh between 2013 and 2014.
It is advised to check in with the students one to two months after the trainings to deepen their knowledge and to evaluate the impact of the trainings. In Kenya, the trainings were conducted with local NGOs, which will ensure sustainability on the ground as they are in continuous contact with the schools.
'''The key lessons of the story:''' WASH United is an international non-profit organisation that pioneers the use of fun, educational games, sport star ambassadors and strictly positive messages to increase the relevance of sanitation and hygiene and to facilitate behaviour change. WASH United designs and implements awareness raising campaigns and WASH in Schools programmes in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. WASH United believes that children are key agents of change. As children spend most of their time at school, this is the best place to learn good WASH behaviour. ===Sustainability CriteriaContribution to the SuSanA sustainability criteria===
''Health and Hygiene:'' game based trainings can change WASH behaviour sustainably
''Socio-cultural and institutional aspects:'' Girls and boys learn that menstruation is a natural process and nothing to be ashamed of. This new knowledge eventually leads to lower absence rates at school during menstruation.
'''''The key lessons of the story:'''''
WASH United is an international non-profit organisation that pioneers the use of fun, educational games, sport star ambassadors and strictly positive messages to increase the relevance of sanitation and hygiene and to facilitate behaviour change. WASH United designs and implements awareness raising campaigns and WASH in Schools programmes in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. WASH United believes that children are key agents of change. As children spend most of their time at school, this is the best place to learn good WASH behaviour.
===Project details===
'''Type of project: ''' MHM Promotion Project
'''Project period: ''' 2013-2014
'''Start of operation: ''' 2014
'''Project scale: ''' Training for over 2.300 students (including 500 boys) and more than 60 teachers on MHM in India, Kenya and Bangladesh between 2013 and 2014
'''Address of project location: ''' Schools in India, Kenya and Bangladesh
'''Implementing institution: ''' WASH United
'''Supporting agency: ''' Local partners
'''''WASH United''''' develops cutting-edge solutions in the fields of WASH advocacy and campaigns, behaviour change communication and the human rights to water and sanitation, and partners with strong organisations that can implement at scale. With their trade-mark play-based approach they helped train more than 200,000 children in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia in good WASH behaviours (including menstrual hygiene management).
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Denise Reck