Menstrual Hygiene Matters

"This resource brings together... knowledge and practice on menstrual hygiene programming from around the world to encourage the development of comprehensive and context specific approaches to menstrual hygiene." - Catarina De Albuquerque

This resource for improving menstrual hygiene for women and girls from age 10 in lower and middle-income countries has nine modules and toolkits, including case studies, that cover key aspects of menstrual hygiene in different settings, including communities, schools, and emergencies. The resource presents a synthesis of what it considers to be good practice, considering a range of contexts and situations for women and girls around the world. It includes cultural and religious beliefs in its consideration of approaches. It looks at menstrual hygiene as a package of interventions. The resource is divided into modules, each with its own toolkit, focusing on various aspects of menstrual hygiene, not as a field resource but as a resource developed for organisations to use as a basis for developing materials relevant to their context.

It is intended to:

• Bring together examples of good menstrual hygiene practice from around the world, related to policies, strategies, programmes and interventions, so that knowledge can be shared and adapted to different contexts.
• Provide guidance on building the competence and confidence of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and other sector staff to start engaging in menstrual hygiene and break the silence surrounding the issue
• Encourage increased engagement in advocacy on menstrual hygiene and encourag relevant sectors to collaborate for effective advocacy and implementation

Focusing on adolescents, the school-related module suggests that advantages of working with girls in schools include:

• More time spent in school (female teachers and schoolgirls).
• Increased concentration.
• Higher self-confidence.
• Increased comfort, good hygiene, less irritation from sanitary materials and less risk of related infections.
• Greater participation.
• More confidence to stand up to answer questions and ask to leave the classroom to use the latrine

Strategies from Tamil Nandu, India, include; training self-help groups in sanitary napkin production, installing safe disposal devices in schools, building teacher and trainer capacity in hygiene, creating a curriculum and a booklet for girls in school, and installing vending machines in schools, among others.

The following modules are included:

• Module 1: menstrual hygiene - the basics      Toolkit 1: menstrual hygiene - the basics
• Module 2: menstrual hygiene - getting started     Toolkit 2: menstrual hygiene - getting started
• Module 3: sanitary protection materials and disposal     Toolkit 3: sanitary protection materials and disposal
• Module 4: working with communities on menstrual hygiene     Toolkit 4: working with communities on menstrual hygiene
• Module 5: working with schools on menstrual hygiene     Toolkit 5: working with schools on menstrual hygiene
• Module 6: menstrual hygiene in emergencies     Toolkit 6: menstrual hygiene in emergencies
• Module 7: supporting women and girls in vulnerable, marginalised or special circumstances     Toolkit 7: supporting women and girls in vulnerable, marginalised or special circumstances
• Module 8: menstrual hygiene in the workplace     Toolkit 8: menstrual hygiene in the workplace
• Module 9: research, monitoring and advocacy     Toolkit 9: research, monitoring and advocacy