1,800 Sukabumi students receive proper sanitation and MHM facilities from Merck Indonesia

Almost every day, children and adolescents spend 80% of their time at school. All activities are carried out from morning to evening ranging from teaching and learning activities to extracurricular activities. In order to support the comfort and safety of students in carrying out activities at school, of course, a proper toilet is the key so that they also avoid all kinds of diseases. According to the Ministry of Education’s 2020 School Sanitation Profile, as many as 27% or 309,783 education units at all levels (PAUD, SD, SMP, SMA / SMK) do not have access to adequate sanitation. This includes facilities such as clean toilets and handwashing activities. There is also a gap between sanitation facilities in schools, rural and urban areas.

Yayasan Plan International Indonesia (Plan Indonesia) together with Merck Indonesia Women in Leadership (I WIL) Team with funding support from Merck Family Foundation through the DEAREST Program (Decent Sanitation and Menstrual Hygiene Education at School) is committed to continuing the success of the Gema Cita program (Generasi Emas Bangsa Bebas Perkawinan Anak Anak) in Sukabumi District to prevent various forms of violence and provide fulfillment of children’s rights, especially for girls. The goal of DEAREST is to improve the hygiene behavior of students and teachers through the provision of proper sanitation facilities and the promotion of behavioral hygiene, including Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) through empowering adolescents and young people aged 13-18 years and education personnel and Child Friendly School (SRA) teams, especially women and girls, so that they are able to behave healthily and cleanly in the school environment.

Until June 2024, many activities have been carried out by Plan Indonesia through the DEAREST program including discussions on Sexual & Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR), discussions on Menstrual Hygiene Management for students and teachers, campaign activities led by students with the aim of promoting the impact of clean and healthy living behavior, the importance of menstrual hygiene management, prevention of violence in the school environment and renovation of toilets in 5 schools assisted by Plan Indonesia, namely SMPN 1 Sukaraja, SMAN 1 Sukaraja, MTs Yasni, SMPN 1 Warungkiara, and SMAN 1 Warungkiara.

On June 12, 2024, Merck Indonesia made a visit as a form of employee involvement in SRHR and MHM as well as promotion of work professions at Merck Indonesia that inspire students. This visit was welcomed with the best performances of students ranging from welcome dances, musical dramas related to violence against children, interactive dialogues related to SRHR and MHM as well as professions or careers within Merck Indonesia.

Sulfina Arindah, Business Unit Director of Merck and I WIL Core Team Lead of Merck Indonesia in her speech said that the collaboration between Merck and Plan Indonesia, which is fully supported by Merck Family Foundation in the DEAREST program, has renovated a total of 74 toilets from 18 toilet blocks, especially girls’ toilets, with MHM standard equipment in 5 schools.

“This program aims to improve access to proper school sanitation and education on menstrual hygiene in schools,” added Sulfina.

Also present at the event was Linda Sukandar, Director of Resource Mobilization Plan Indonesia who hopes that education on MHM and proper sanitation facilities will have a significant positive impact on the health and well-being of children in Sukabumi District.

“Plan Indonesia is grateful to Merck Family Foundation and Merck Indonesia for entrusting the DEAREST program to us as well as to all levels of local government, school principals, teachers, students, and peer educators who are part of this program,” said Linda.

One of the beneficiaries of the toilet renovation at school, Alisa as a peer educator, felt uncomfortable to use the toilet before the renovation by DEAREST program. In fact, she had to hold back on using the toilet and changing her sanitary napkins until after school, which would certainly have an impact on her health in the long run.

“Now I can comfortably use the toilet at school, so I hope that in the future other schools in rural areas can also get decent facilities like this,” said Naza,

Plan Indonesia and Merck Indonesia invite all to realize equality as a whole, including in the world of education for girls, including MHM and SRHR.

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