P-14 Promoting Women's Education through Humanity - Madagascar

Buller Hall Hallways

Since the rise of women’s empowerment, girls’ education has been on the agenda of all development forums in an effort to ensure equality and state development. Additionally, the Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector is one of the most integral units of both the humanitarian and development field. Through an analysis of preliminary data collected in Madagascar, however, we noticed that though there are many WASH programs and efforts that have been carried out, girls are not using the latrines provided, transmittable diseases spread in school, and altogether, girls are dropping out of school. This research explores the relationship between WASH and the attendance and retention of girls in school and provides the possible ‘missing link’ that explains the lack of efficacy of WASH in alleviating female school dropouts. I use a cross-sectional study of WASH facilities in Ambatondrazaka, Madagascar, using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods to conduct the study.