FEMALE DIGNITY KITS

Making a difference for women and girls in Yemen

Protection cluster / GBV Sub-cluster

BEST PRACTICES

Distribution can be very embarrassing for women, especially in conservative communities where they can even hesitate to collect the kits. In order to reach targeted women/girls, partners should:

• Provide information prior to the distribution (what, when, where, how) so women and girls can plan and feel safe to collect the dignity kit.

• Assessments should be conducted by female staff in a discreet and sensitive manner. Females of different reproductive ages need to be consulted. Some women may feel ashamed to talk about personal hygiene; and some men and women may be suspicious of the inclusion of family planning products into the pad/napkin.

• Consult women and girls about all items, and especially about the choice between cotton cloths or sanitary napkins. Discuss their preferences, access to adequate water to wash the reusable clothes, the quality of the available cotton, and the availability of sanitary napkin disposals.

• Undertake house to house awareness raising sessions.• Employ education specific materials to promote hygiene, including menstrual hygiene, with drawings.• Discuss with women how and where to wash and dry the re-usable cloths in a hygienic way, or how and where to ensure a proper way to dispose the used sanitary napkins and empty the bins when they are full.• Undertake awareness raising sessions with men and boys to minimize their negative attitude toward women not having access to proper clothes and hygiene articles especially during the humanitarian crisis.

Monitoring is essential to track the usefulness of the articles, whether they are properly used, and whether more hygiene awareness sessions are needed.

Participatory assessment

Distribution

Awareness raising in hygiene promotion

Monitoring and evaluation

For more information, contact:Ghamdan Mofarreh | GBV sub cluster coordinator | mofarreh@unfpa.org

Conducting a participatory assessment is necessary before designing dignity kits to ensure that selected articles are culturally appropriate and suitable to the context.

•Organize the distribution in a discrete place, by women staff to women/girls beneficiaries. If other distributions are done at the same time (food, shelter, etc.) designate another space for the dignity

During and/or after the distributions, hygiene awareness sessions should be held:

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DIGNITY MATTERSIn some communities, women cannot venture outside their homes to seek basic services without wearing appropriate clothes. In conflict situations, many Yemeni families have to flee fighting, sometimes in the middle of the night, with little or no belongings. Migrants and refugees from the Horn of Africa arrive on the coast or at the borders wearing old or torn clothing.

For women and girls in particular, torn clothing exposes them to potential harassment community for not complying with cultural dress codes. Female dignity is also related to personal hygiene, including menstrual hygiene. Without access to culturally appropriate clothing or female hygiene items, women and girls are compelled to stay at home. Sometimes, they even remain invisible to humanitarian actors and miss being targeted for assistance.

DIGNITY KIT BENEFITS

Female dignity should be considered as a core element of the humanitarian response in Yemen, sometimes as a lifesaving element, ensuring it is adapted to the cultural practices and preferences. Having locally acceptable clothing and female hygiene items can have a major impact on the lives of women and girls during a humanitarian crisis. Of the many benefits, the most important ones are:

Female dignity kits in Yemen contain culturally adapted clothes and hygiene articles. Items and quantities might differ depending on partners, on the humanitarian context and on local practices and customs.

Women and girls can move more freely and safely, and participate in daily life.

•Girls can attend school every day.

•Women can participate in economic activities, approach registration and distribution points, reach health facilities and participate in capacity building activities and in community committees.

MobilityHygiene articles, including menstrual hygiene items, prevent infections & diseases.

Having their dignity preserved is essential to maintain self-esteem and confidence, which is important to cope in stressful and overwhelming humanitarian situations. Self-esteem and confidence are also necessary to ensure the care and protection of their children.

Health

Self esteem

DIGNITY KIT ITEMS

The container of the kit should have multiple uses. Some partners provide a bag or a small bucket. In any case, the contain-er has to be closed, so items cannot be seen. It can be specified in the container that the kit is only for women and girls.

Container

Some partners recommend including 2 - 3 different sizes in each kit, as they can be interchanged with other women in the same household.

Sizing

Diginty kit items

Budget

Container

The cost of the kit differs depending on the items included and their quality. The cost ranges between 4,000 YR ($18) and 17,000 YR ($80).

Minimum items recommended by GBV Sub-cluster - Hijab/scarf

- Abaya-Baltu (black cloak/overall)

- Robe

- Underwear

- Sanitary napkins packs or sanitary cloth

- Soap bar

- Gel-shampoo

- Hair oil

- Hand cream

Other possible items to include- Jalabya (long dress)

- Set of color pyjama (traditional house

wear)

- Sandals or flip-flops

- Tooth paste / tooth brush

- Hair brush

- Cream/lotion

- Nail clipper

- Towel

- Cotton socks

- Fleece blanket

- Washing powder

- Solar powered torch

Women and girls dressed according to culturally appropriate dress-codes are more respected by the community. They are less exposed to harassment, abuse and violence.

The provision of these items reduces the financial burden on women and girls to seek those items, and reduces their risk of being abused when seeking money to buy them.

Protection

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