The retention and participation of girls in school in rural Nepal is linked closely with a lack of awareness and stigma around sexual and reproductive health (SRH) issues and harmful practices such as child marriage and chaupadi (segregation during menstruation) which lead to missed school and school drop-out. To support girls’ education project aimed to improve girls’ participation and retention in school by strengthening and making more accessible comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) and life skills education in secondary schools in rural and remote Nepal. CSE is proven to help adolescents avoid unwanted, unintended pregnancies and STIs, promote gender equality, and improve critical thinking, communication, and decision-making skills.

We partnered with International Nepal Fellowship to pilot the use of mobile learning labs (MLL) to deliver CSE in five schools in the remote and mountainous Karnali District of western Nepal. The mobile learning labs are an alternative method of delivering CSE and learning about life skills which will help to overcome taboos when discussing SRH. The project supported girls’ education in Nepal by:

1. Strengthening CSE to raise awareness of the importance of SRH, learn about navigating healthy and respectful relationships, and reduce the stigma around menstruation; and
2. Equipping girls with the tools and life skills to advocate for their health and wellbeing, improve agency, and make informed choices.

This increase in awareness and skills was expected to help avoid early marriage, reduce the stigma of menstruation, and improve the ability of girls to advocate for themselves, all of which supports girls’ education by increasing participation and retention in school.

The expected long-term impact of this project was improved participation and retention of girls in school and reduced school dropout of girls. The expected medium-term impacts of the project were (1) improved SRH knowledge and awareness among students including awareness of the negative consequences of child marriage and chaupadi;(2) reduced stigma around sensitive SRH issues and menstruation; and (3) improved life skills & soft skills such as confidence and decision-making skills among students, especially girls

Some of the project results include the following:

• The project successfully set up MLL in five project schools and developed the first digital CSE curriculum in Nepal.
• 23 school staff were trained on CSE and MLL
• More than 700 students participated in learning through the MLL