Investing in Menstrual Health and Hygiene

Leading global health organizations have unveiled a groundbreaking analysis outlining what donors, national governments, and the private sector need to invest to accelerate progress for menstrual health and hygiene (MHH). The report, Making the Case for Investing in Menstrual Health and Hygiene, is part of a growing effort to advance gender equality and contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Menstrual hygiene management in schools: midway progress update on the “MHM in Ten” 2014–2024 global agenda

Menstrual hygiene management in schools: midway progress update on the “MHM in Ten” 2014–2024 global agenda. Health Research Policy and Systems, January 2021.

Progress has been made in recent years to bring attention to the challenges faced by school-aged girls around managing menstruation in educational settings that lack adequate physical environments and social support in low- and middle-income countries.

To enable more synergistic and sustained progress on addressing menstruation-related needs while in school, an effort was undertaken in 2014 to map out a vision, priorities, and a ten-year agenda for transforming girls’ experiences, referred to as Menstrual Hygiene Management in Ten (MHM in Ten).

The overarching vision is that girls have the information, support, and enabling school environment for managing menstruation with dignity, safety and comfort by 2024. This requires improved research evidence and translation for impactful national level policies.

As 2019 marked the midway point, we assessed progress made on the five key priorities, and remaining work to be done, through global outreach to the growing network of academics, non-governmental organizations, advocates, social entrepreneurs, United Nations agencies, donors, and national governments.

This paper delineates the key insights to inform and support the growing MHM commitment globally to maximize progress to reach our vision by 2024. Corresponding to the five priorities, we found that (priority 1) the evidence base for MHM in schools has strengthened considerably, (priority 2) global guidelines for MHM in schools have yet to be created, and (priority 3) numerous evidence-based advocacy platforms have emerged to support MHM efforts.

We also identified (priority 4) a growing engagement, responsibility, and ownership of MHM in schools among governments globally, and that although MHM is beginning to be integrated into country-level education systems (priority 5), resources are lacking.

Overall, progress is being made against identified priorities. We provide recommendations for advancing the MHM in Ten agenda. This includes continued building of the evidence, and expanding the number of countries with national level policies and the requisite funding and capacity to truly transform schools for all students and teachers who menstruate.

July 16, 2019 – Webinar on Menstrual Hygiene Management in Emergencies Toolkit

July 16, 2019 Webinar on Menstrual Hygiene Management in Emergencies Toolkit

• Organized by Columbia University , International Rescue Committee (IRC)
• 12:00pm — 1:00pm

Please join us for a webinar on the Menstrual Hygiene Management in Emergencies Toolkit. Feel free to invite any colleagues who may be interested in this event!

Discussion topics include:

• Conducting a rapid MHM assessment
• Sector responsibilities on MHM (WASH, Protection, Shelter, Health, Education, Camp Management)
• Monitoring & evaluating MHM activities
• Key findings from ongoing implementation and research

Additional info and registration

Water Currents: Menstrual Hygiene Day 2019

Menstrual Hygiene Day 2019. Water Currents, May 23, 2019.

Every May 28, Menstrual Hygiene Day (MH Day) raises awareness and combats taboos associated with menstrual hygiene with the goal of enabling women and girls to achieve their full potential.

The theme of Menstrual Hygiene Day 2019—It’s Time for Action—not only emphasizes the urgency of this public health issue, but also highlights the transformative power of improved menstrual hygiene to unlock economic and educational opportunities for women and girls.

Empowering women and girls and promoting gender equality are core operating principles of the U.S. Government Global Water Strategy and USAID Water and Development Plan. To alleviate a major constraint to women’s and girls’ participation in education and public life, USAID seeks to integrate menstrual hygiene management (MHM) interventions where practical and improve MHM in key settings, including schools.

As a contribution to MH Day 2019, this issue contains links to recent studies on “period poverty,” MHM and its impact on schooling/education, MHM in humanitarian situations, and other MHM–related topics.

Events
Menstrual Hygiene Day 2019 – This global advocacy platform for MH Day brings together the voices and actions of nonprofits, government agencies, individuals, the private sector, and the media to promote MHM for all women and girls. This website contains campaign materials for this year’s theme—It’s Time for Action—and a list of events and resources.

WASH Innovation Challenge on Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) and Incontinence – Elrha’s Humanitarian Innovation Fund is launching a challenge May 23, 2019, and will be seeking innovative projects exploring how to design safe and dignified MHM spaces in emergency camp settings and how to better engage with and understand the needs of people with incontinence in emergencies. Additional information will soon be posted on the Elrha’s website.

MHM Overviews
What Is the Point of a Period? Scientific American, May 2019. Age-old taboos against menstruation have led to a lack of research on how women’s menstrual cycles work, with serious consequences for their health.

Period Poverty Impact on the Economic Empowerment of Women. Knowledge, Learning and Evidence for Knowledge, January 2019. Period poverty refers to a lack of access to sanitary products due to financial constraints. The problem exists in high as well as low- and middle-income countries.

Read the complete issue.

Cloth, cow dung, cups: how the world’s women manage their periods

Cloth, cow dung, cups: how the world’s women manage their periods. The Guardian, April 2019.

For women living without access to basic sanitation, menstruation can be especially challenging. Their resourcefulness knows no bounds

From animal skins and old rags to cow patties and silicon cups, women around the world use all sorts of materials to manage their periods each month.

Basic necessities for dealing properly with menstruation, such as access to clean water or a decent toilet, are simply unavailable to millions of women and girls.

Without these services, menstruation can negatively affect women’s health as well as their involvement in social and economic activities, says Louisa Gosling of WaterAid, which has published a photo gallery detailing the various ways women around the world manage their periods.

Read the complete article.

Menstrual Hygiene Webinar Series – WASH United and others

Menstrual Hygiene Webinar Series – WASH United

• MHM webinar series Webinar 1, 31 May – During this webinar, we discussed the current state of MH on the global stage – the issue, current evidence and existing gaps. We will… 
• MHM Webinar Series 2, 7 June – During this webinar, we discussed the current global discourse on menstruation and global perspectives on misconceptions and taboos
• MHM Webinar Series 3, June 14 2018 – This is the third in a five-part series focusing on menstrual hygiene. During this webinar, we discussed the core question of how to select

 

 

 

Olivia Onyemaobi, the Nigerian social entrepreneur improving menstrual hygiene management education in her country

Olivia Onyemaobi, the Nigerian social entrepreneur improving menstrual hygiene management education in her country. Lionesses of Africa, March 1, 2018.

Personal experiences and the desire to make a difference in the lives of others are often the two key drivers of social entrepreneurs when it comes to starting up their businesses. For Nigerian social entrepreneur, Olivia Onyemaobi, founder of Pad-Up Creations, her inspiration came from the need to help women and girls to manage their menstrual hygiene and fulfill their potential.

Olivia Onyemaobi, founder of Pad-Up Creations (Nigeria)

What does your company do?

We are a social enterprise in Nigeria manufacturing affordable and eco-friendly washable/reusable sanitary pads to help keep girls in schools during their menstrual cycle and also improve women’s economic involvement in society. We also organize menstrual hygiene management and reproductive health education in schools and women groups.

Read the complete article.

Sanitary Napkin PadBank: Here’s How Some Women Are Pushing The Menstrual Hygiene Cause

Sanitary Napkin PadBank: Here’s How Some Women Are Pushing The Menstrual Hygiene Cause. Banega Swachh India, March 7, 2018.

From an MLA initiating India’s first sanitary PadBank to a 16-year-old coming forward to help the girls of her age, PadBanks being run by different women are emerging to be an important mechanism to provide sanitary napkins to women without means. Here are five such PadBanks

Move over PadMan, PadBanks are now what many are adopting to reach out to women with no access or awareness about menstrual hygiene. These PadBanks retain the basic functionality of a bank, but instead of money these dispense sanitary pad, either from free or charge a discounted rate.

While some women are providing sanitary napkins at a cheaper rate, others are breaking the myths and taboos associated with menstruation by making people aware. These women are not only challenging the societal norms, but have also made it their mission to raise the level of menstrual hygiene in India. 

In India, 88 per cent of menstruating women do not use sanitary napkins. Be it ignorance or lack of affordability, the fact is that majority of women in India rely on unhygienic alternatives during periods.

In a bid to change this reality, women in India are providing sanitary napkins to less fortunate women and girls.

Read the complete article.

BBC News – Menstruating girls banned from crossing Ghana river

Menstruating girls banned from crossing Ghana river. BBC News, January 11, 2018.

Ghanaian schoolgirls have been banned from crossing a river while they are menstruating – and on Tuesdays.

Girls living near Kyekyewerein (not pictured) are affected by the ban

The ban, apparently given by a local river god, has outraged children’s activists, especially as girls must cross the river to reach school.

It means girls in the Upper Denkyira East district, in the Central Region, could miss out on their education.

Sub-Saharan Africa is already struggling to keep girls in school during their periods.

The UN’s scientific and education organisation, Unesco, estimates one in 10 girls in the region does not attend school because they are menstruating, while a World Bank report notes that 11.5m Ghanaian women lack the appropriate hygiene and sanitation management facilities needed.

Read the complete article.

The Period Movement: Meet the Men Fighting to Stop Menstruation-Shaming

The Period Movement: Meet the Men Fighting to Stop Menstruation-Shaming. Newsweek, July 12, 2017.

Ganga Gautam stood at the back of a high school classroom in Kathmandu, Nepal, helplessly watching as a teenage girl started bleeding. Gautam, a professor of English education at Tribhuvan University, was observing one of his students teach a class two years ago.

Joshua Omanya, center, is an educator with The Cup program who teaches boys in the Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya, about menstruation and gender equality.

Three girls were sitting on a bench next to him, and one of them was clearly in distress.“I noticed that she was menstruating. The blood was coming,” he says. “She wasn’t prepared. She didn’t have a pad, and there was a male teacher teaching.”

Gautam saw the young girl open her pen and drip ink over the blood in an effort to hide it. As soon as class ended, she placed a piece of paper over the red stain and ran out. He never saw her in school again. “That happened many times,” he says. “I saw so many girls bleeding in classrooms and panicking.

They leave the classroom and never come back. That just killed me.”Around the world, girls and women miss classes, drop out of school and fail to reach their full potential because of a natural biological process: menstruation.

Read the complete article.