Summary:
- Background: Wrapping up the International Menstrual Hygiene Day on the 28th of May
- Information summary:
- Fill in this survey on Menstrual Hygiene aspects in your country to help us create an interactive map
- We are sharing
- The SCORA Online Open Space on Menstrual Hygiene perspectives recording
- Campaign materials used
- Resources on the topic
- The IFMSA Menstrual Hygiene Map
- The blog post published
- What you need to do: read the overall email, fill the survey if you did not yet and check the links with relevant resources.
- Relevant Links:
Dear SCORA family,
An estimated 1.8 billion girls, women, transgender men and non-binary persons of reproductive age experience menstruation throughout their lives, yet millions of menstruators across the world cannot manage their monthly cycle in a dignified, healthy way.
Menstrual hygiene and health has gained international spotlight fairly recently. It is recognized that menstrual health is highly complex in its nature, having a close relation to multiple human rights (such as right to health, education, gender equity, etc.). Therefore, the consequences of lack of proper menstrual hygiene management are dire, affecting not only the health, but also economic status, educational opportunities as well as equality of people who menstruate.
This year, IFMSA marked the International Menstrual Hygiene Day with a campaign that focused on raising awareness, improving the menstrual health knowledge of IFMSA members and offering tools for efforts to increase access to proper menstrual hygiene management. Here is a brief summary of the campaign:
- You were challenged to take a photo to raise awareness on menstrual hygiene! #noshame We would like to thank everyone who participated!
- The campaign infographics covered the basics of menstrual hygiene, myths and facts as well as advocacy material (barriers & link to SDGs).
- An open space was organized where IFMSA members could present perspectives from their regions and countries in addition to discussing what actions can be taken on different levels. Didn’t catch it on time? No worries! You can find the recording here.
- An interactive map of menstrual hygiene was also created based on a form that was sent to NORAs of each region. Please use it freely – should you need it for activities, discussions or trainings. Important note! For the NORAs who haven’t filled in the form yet, it is still open! Once you fill in the information for your country, it will immediately appear on the map.
We hope that you found the campaign impactful and enjoyable. With that being said, we would like to share additional resources (for further reading or if you wish to gain more knowledge for your menstrual hygiene activities!):
- UNICEF Guidance on Menstrual Health and Hygiene
- Advancing Gender Equity by Improving Menstrual Health
- Advocacy report: Menstrual Hygiene Matters
- All of them are accessible in the SCORA Database where you will find some other materials in addition to all infographics and short animations used during the campaign.
Last, if you did work on an activity on this topic or you’re willing to get started, the Programme Coordinator for Maternal Health and Access to Safe Abortion is here to support you, contact them anytime through maternalhealth@ifmsa.org
Should you have any questions or additional comments, feel free to reach out to us!
The Menstrual Hygiene Day campaign coordinators,
Yara, Ieva, Abra and Lalu
