About
About Us
Who we are
In 2016, the Irise Institute East Africa (IIEA) emerged as a beacon of change, a testament to the power of grassroots initiatives driven by the passion and dedication of young women. These visionary founders recognized the multifaceted challenges that women and girls faced in their communities, and they set out to address them head-on.
The Founding Vision: IIEA was born out of a collective determination to confront pressing issues. It was established with a mandate to make significant contributions to the promotion of menstrual health and hygiene management, sexual reproductive health, women’s and girls’ education, and economic empowerment. Central to their mission was the unwavering commitment to advancing gender equality through collaborative advocacy efforts, giving women and girls the voice and platforms they deserved to amplify their concerns and aspirations.
The Vision for Change: The heart of IIEA’s vision was to create a world where women and girls could achieve their full potential without being hindered by the stigma and challenges surrounding menstruation. We are aimed at empowering women and girls within their communities, providing them with the means to pursue their life goals while prioritizing their overall well-being. Our strategies include the creation of period-positive communities, fostering economic empowerment, advocating for policy changes, amplifying diverse leadership voices, and building grassroots networks for young women’s movements.
OUR VISION
VISION
“A world in which women and girls achieve their full potential unlimited by Periods”
OUR MISSION
MISSION
"Empower women and girls in communities to socially and economically pursue their life’s goals and well-being through creating menstrual friendly communities, by investing in Menstrual Health Management and economic empowerment, advocating for policy change, promoting diverse leadership and engaging in evidence-based research as well as build grassroot networks for a community movement"
VALUES
OUR CORE VALUES
Menstrual Health Awareness
Increase access to menstrual health information, products and services to school going girls anddemystify cultural norms associated with period stigma in East Africa’s Uganda’s communities.
Leadership Building
Build authentic leadership capacities for in-school girls through the Build back better leadership development program to incubate, groom, and mentor future accountable leaders
Girls' Engagements
Increase girls’ and young women’s participation to influence and shape the policy agendas around menstrual health and hygiene and engage in evidence-based research for improved menstrual health and hygiene programming and implementation
Economic Independence
Promote economic independence for marginalized young women through improved livelihoods and building a young women’s network
Capacity Building
Capacity building and institutional strengthening of IIEA and young women’s network at national and regional level to champion menstrual health and hygiene programming
Irise Institute East Africa (IIEA) has achieved significant milestones.
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- 2699 students reached with Menstrual Health.
- IIEA collaborated with the Gender Equity and Budgeting unit under the Ministry of Education and Sports with a two days working meeting to review and costing the draft national MHM Strategic plan (2021 - 2025) with 25 participants from MH line ministries, development partners and civil society organizations and as well 85 participants for the validation process to finalize the MHM national strategy
- 20 young women leaders at the grassroots were engaged for a two days training on feminist leadership and menstrual health advocacy.
- 700 girls in Jinja schools were supported with flow cups to enable them to manage their periods while a further 150 girls in Kumi, and 150 in Wakiso respectively were supported with flow cups. This has enabled IIEA to meet its target of reaching 1,000 girls with menstrual cups.IIEA in partnership with the Cova Project organized and held the flow cup virtual conference in September 2021 drawing participation of over 300 participants from Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi as well as others from Europe, USA, Australia. The virtual conference enabled IIEA show case its expertise in MHM and also reached out to different communities of practice in MHM programming.
- 322 women and 238 men were reached with menstrual health education messages through door-to-door engagement by community champions.
- Enrolled 9 out of targeted 15 schools in the vulnerable/marginalized schools with disabilities list identified by the Inspector of schools Jinja District.
- 4000 reached in menstrual hygiene education and product distribution for menstrual health management
- 18 trainers were trained on MHE/M for menstrual health.
- 1588 girls were supported with reusable menstrual products.
- 100 certificates were awarded to winners in the debates.
- 2800 Scholastic materials given to students
Worked with stakeholders at the district level
- Capacity strengthening for local government and community leaders.
- 1298 women received food packs
- Launched empowerment for women and youth towards economic development
ACHIEVEMENTS
Empowering women and girls, fostering gender equality, and creating positive social change
Irise Institute East Africa (IIEA) has made significant contributions in East Africa across multiple areas. We have promoted menstrual health and hygiene by breaking taboos and providing essential products and education, advocated for comprehensive sexual education and reproductive health services, advanced women’s and girls’ education, empowered women economically through training and resources, advocated for gender equality through collaborative efforts, nurtured leadership development, created community readiness for change through innovative approaches, influenced policy changes for improved access to education and healthcare, forged valuable partnerships, and expanded their impact to reach remote and underserved communities, ensuring that women and girls in challenging circumstances have access to essential resources and opportunities.
Irise Institute East Africa
Empowering individuals, particularly girls and women, by providing them with knowledge, skills, and resources related to menstrual health.
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