Invest in Menstrual Health for girls and women

Thank you for supporting this project supporting girls and women and encouraging communities to make the shift from menstrual health being ‘women’s business’ to being everyone’s business!

The volunteer ambassadors continue to deliver workshops in their communities helping to break down barriers, challenging taboos and raising awareness of the challenges facing girls and women when it comes to menstrual health.

Meanwhile, the sexual, reproductive health and rights team have been busy delivering trainings to school teachers as part of plans to widen the menstrual health programme in schools.  The programme is expanding to involve boys as well as girls and to include more topics including sexual reproductive health, STI’s and HIV, relationships, gender-based violence and drugs/alcohol and addiction.

Menstrual health management, puberty, finances and providing reusable sanitary kits continue as previously.  The team are half way through a series of 10 trainings they are delivering introducing the new content with the teachers, facilitation skills and practical demonstrations.

Later on this month, Global Menstrual Hygiene Day will be celebrated and we are planning a gathering of schools, students, teachers and community on Monday May 29^th to mark the day.  This year’s global theme is “We are Committed to making menstruation a normal fact of life by 2030” because millions of women and girls continue to be excluded and discriminated against simply because they are menstruate. 

It’s not acceptable that because of a natural bodily function women and girls continue to be prevented from getting an education, earning an income and fully and equally participating in everyday life.

Menstrual Hygiene Day is an annual awareness raising opportunity to talk about the working being undertaken to –

• Break the taboos and end the stigma surrounding menstruation
• Raise awareness about the challenges regarding access to menstrual products, education about menstruation and period-friendly sanitation facilities
• Mobilise the funding required for action at scale

In the lead up to Menstrual Hygiene Day we have a campaign focusing on ending period stigma and encouraging people to talk about periods – using  the hashtag #WhatDoYouCallYours and #EndingPeriodStigma