Girl Talk Zimbabwe: GESI Promising Practice

This document presents the WASH UP! Girl Talk programme as a promising practice in integrating gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programming in Zimbabwe. WASH UP! Girl Talk empowered primary school-aged children (pre-adolescent and adolescent girls and boys) to practice and promote healthy WASH behaviours, particularly around menstrual health and hygiene.

The WASH UP! Girl Talk programme was implemented in Zimbabwe in 2017-2020 with funding from Dubai Cares Foundation. World Vision partnered with Sesame Workshop to develop contextualised child-appropriate multimedia content and educational materials on puberty, healthy bodies, menstrual cycle, menstrual hygiene management, and girls’ empowerment. A summative research evaluation suggests that the project enhanced knowledge of adolescent health and dispelled commonly-held myths about menstruation, with participants showing significant increases in knowledge of puberty and menstruation and reporting that they were more likely to talk with friends, family and teachers about these topics. The project reached more than 26,000 girls and more than 14,000 boys in 150 schools in Zimbabwe.