International Menstrual Hygiene Day
Making menstruation a normal fact of life by 2030
Today, millions of women and girls around the world are stigmatized, excluded and discriminated against simply because they menstruate. It’s not acceptable that because of a natural bodily function women and girls continue to be prevented from getting an education, earning an income and fully and equally participating in everyday life.
In the course of its many activities with lower secondary and high school students, the Albanian Center for Population and Development has explained what occurs to the body during menstruations; the latter are a biological function of women’s bodies; women and girls should not be ashamed of menstruations; women and girls should have menstrual hygiene; and getting to know one’s own body is a human right that should be respected at all costs.
While Menstrual Hygiene Day is on 28 May, ACPD team and our partners work all year round to:
- Break the taboos and end the stigma surrounding menstruation
- Raise awareness about the challenges regarding access to menstrual products, education about menstruation and period-friendly sanitation facilities
- Mobilise the funding required for action at scale
All of this contributes to our overarching goal: to build a world where no one is held back because they menstruate by 2030.
“Improving menstrual health in schoolgirls can lead to long-lasting effects on women’s overall education, health and wellbeing.” Helen Weiss, Professor of Epidemiology
