Invest in Menstrual Health for girls and women

Thank you for your support of this project investing in  menstrual health for girls and women. 

This update coincides with a very important date – Global Menstrual Hygiene Day, marked annually on May 28^th.  MH Day is part of an ongoing campaign to put menstruation in the spotlight and bring global attention to menstrual health and hygiene.

• Brighter Communities Worldwide were among the founding partners of MH Day in 2014 and over ten years the number of partners has grown from 155 to 1,003.
• In ten years the number of social media contributions on the day have increased from 8,000 to 222,000. 
• The number of media coverage pieces tracked increased from 89 to 17,828. And the number of people reached increased from 22 million to 705 million!

MH Day is a global campaign which is raising awareness and pushing back taboos and stigma around menstruation and this year the theme is focusing on creating a #PeriodFriendlyWorld.

Plans are underway in Kenya to hold an event for 500 students who will attend workshops, sports, programme exhibition and share entertainment during the day. The workshops will look at Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) topics, talk about challenges and myths and demonstrate how to make reusable pads.

This event will involve volunteers from the community who have trained as ambassadors to deliver workshops that share information and get people talking about SRHR.   This programme aims to create awareness of SRHR among all community members, develop an environment where the SRHR of young people, women and marginalised people are recognised and met leading to more open and equitable communities.  It was born out of our menstrual health programme and expanded to include all aspect of SRHR in response to the needs of the community.

The ambassadors recently meet with our staff team to discuss the previous year’s events and activities, make plans for workshops and sensitisation activities in the coming year and discuss challenges that they have come up against as they deliver the programme in their communities.

We are excited to prepare for this year’s MH Day and invite you to join in from wherever you are in the world.  Every one of us can push back the stigma around menstruation. Whether it's a casual chat or a formal conversation, you have the power to break the taboo. And together, we can change how society views menstruation. Because each conversation can change how people think.

Join us and share the digital menstrual bracelet on your social media – tag Brighter Communities and 3 friends and ask them to do the same.  Let’s make some noise and speak up for a #PeriodFriendlyWorld!

We want this to go as viral as possible and it's easy to do - 

1. Head to your Facebook or Instagram stories
2. Click the sticker icon and searh 'mhday2024'.  Here you can find different versions of the bracelet to suit you!
3. Tagging Brighter Communities and 3 friends is the most important part so don't forget to do that please.

Thank you!

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Links:

• All the information you need about Global Menstrual Hygiene Day
• Check out our YouTube channel for reusable pad demonstration