Globally, an estimated 1.9 billion women, around 26% of the global population are of menstruating age, spending on average 65 days in the year dealing with menstrual blood flow. Though menstruation is a normal body function and a sign of reproductive health, few solutions are available to manage menstruation; additionally, ignorance and prejudices around menstruation, affect many women's health and left them frustrated.

A lack of affordable menstrual products and the use of poor-quality materials predispose women to an increased risk of urogenital infections, including bacterial vaginosis. In some situations, mostly in low-income and middle-income countries, menstruation can affect girls' schooling, make women a target of sexual violence or coercion, and affect the employment or work experiences of women.

Furthermore, a lack of water, sanitation, and hygiene, inadequate education, as well as poor disposal facilities, raise public health concerns, particularly among schoolgirls. In several countries, the number of policy-led initiatives, projects/interventions to provide menstrual health education and menstrual products have increased, to keep girls in school. To allow such organisations to make informed decisions, information is needed on the full range of menstrual health awareness.

In this regard, our upcoming training course “Pathways to Empowerment in Menstrual Health Awareness” aims to strengthen youth workers’ capacity to integrate Menstrual Health and Hygiene Management into new or existing programming in the field of youth education. Through workshops, participants will acquire the skills on how to create menstrual discussion spaces with boys and men, especially with girls and women directly affected by this issue.

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