Liberia: United Nations Girl’s Education Initiative-Liberia Celebrates World Menstrual Health And Hygiene Day

Monrovia – Like women and girls across the world, menstruation is a monthly reality for women and girls in Liberia. About 1.2 million women and girls are on their periods every 28 days in the country, according to analysis of Liberia Demographics Profile 2021 data.

In addition, women and girls continue to face serious challenges when it comes to managing their menstrual cycles. Lack of awareness, harmful gender norms, myths and false information about periods are prevalent, often leading to stigmatization and limits opportunities. Silence built around menstruation further exacerbate difficulties in accessing sanitary products such as pads and hike its price and prevent men from procuring for their counterparts.

As a means of breaking these taboos, the United Nations Girls Education Initiative (UNGEI-Liberia) though Youth Movement for Collective Action (UMOVEMENT) celebrated the world Menstrual Health and Hygiene Day on Friday 28 May 2021 in Kakata City, Margibi County with a call on men to champion the cause for breaking taboos and other barriers associated with menstruation and promote menstrual health, hygiene education and awareness. 

UNGEI is a UN global multi-stakeholder partnership committed to improving the quality and condition of women and girls for education and eliminate other forms of gender-based violence and is headed by the UN’s International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF). On the national scene, it is led by UMOVEMENT, a national policy advocacy and education NGO in Liberia, in conjunction with the Ministry of Education through its Girls’ Education Division, Ministry of Internal Affairs and other partners.

First initiated by a German-based NGO called WASH United in 2014, World Menstrual Health and Hygiene Day is observed on 28^th May every year to acknowledge that 28 days is the average length of the menstrual cycle.

The Kakata event which was supported by members of the network and partners including Community Healthcare Initiative (CHI), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Oxfam among others, was aimed at creating massive awareness in rural areas where the culture of silence is predominant and to challenge negative perceptions around menstruation and hygiene under the national theme: “Bleed with Pride” and the international theme: “Action and Investment in Menstrual Hygiene and Health.”

Activities marking the event included a parade throughout major streets of Kakata city by participants including students, official of local government, staff of the Ministry of Education, civil society organizations and partners and an indoor program spiced-up by separate presentations on the significance of menstruation, its management and hygiene associated with it. The distribution of sanitary pad and demonstration on how to make effective use of the menstrual beats by health practitioner and audience was also a feature of the indoor programs.

Delivering the keynote address, UMOVEMENT Head of Programs Sir. Urias W. Brooks Jr. called on the Government of Liberia and its partners to demonstrate commitment towards women and girls by investing in menstrual hygiene and health products associated with it to reduce cost.  He also urged learning institutions and families to ensure WASH facilities are health and accessible to women and girls with free sanitary products such as pads and clean water especially for teenage girls at school, while stressing the needs for men to normalized periods.

“It is important that we the men lead the initiative to talk about menstruation because this will go a long way in breaking the silence and remove those taboos associated it by positively discussing menstruation with our spouses and with both teenage boys and girls and educate communities about menstrual health and hygiene,” he said.

“This will help in getting things rights with the girls and boys when it comes to family planning, health promotion and prevention of infectious diseases that thriving on unhealthy menstrual hygiene practices and tackle the stigma and restore the dignity of women and girls suffering in silence across Liberia,” he said.

“It is public knowledge that in many of our homes today, women and girls continue to be stigmatized and discriminated against during their menstrual period a key driver of this attitude by men is lack of awareness and we want to use this event  today as an  opportunity initiate to spark a year-round open discussion on menstrual health and hygiene so that all of us together can appreciate menstruation and normalize menstrual period knowing that  without it none of us would have been born or see our own offspring,” he narrated.

Speaking further, he lauded the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) for donating several cartons of menstrual pads which was distributed across the audience with male female receiving equal share.  

“I want to thank UNFPA for the donation of a huge consignment of sanitary paid as we begin the process of open discussion on menstruation and to thanks our other partners for other forms of support for the success hosting of this event,” he said.

The UMOVEMENT Head of Programs also stressed the need for complementing menstrual health and hygiene discussion with the roll out of what he called comprehensive sexuality education across schools through the Ministry of Education.

“blending this process with comprehensive sexuality education would help drive the needed results of breaking traditional taboos affecting girls and women also. A major consequences of not normalizing menstrual period and educating learns about the changes their body under goes when it comes to primary and secondary education is the high dropout rate of girls as periods  prevent girls from going through the three stages of education which are  enrollment, retention and completion,” he stated.

Making remarks also, the Assistant Minister of Education for Basic and Secondary Education Felicia Sackey Doe-Sumah highlighted the importance of promoting menstrual health and hygiene education across schools while lauding UNGEI-Liberia and partners for organizing the World Menstrual Health and Hygiene Day outside Monrovia.

“I want to thank UNGEI-Liberia and partners for bringing young people as well as stakeholders and the elderly together to discuss the importance of menstruation. It is important to educate students about the significance of menstrual health and the hygiene that goes with it because hundreds of women and girls around the world continue to suffer in silence in addition to deadly infection as a result of lack of proper education about the changes their body goes and the type and kind of material to use on their body during menstruation,” she said.

“And I think that promoting menstrual health and hygiene awareness and education will enable students appreciate this life cycle at an early age, and empower them as this is not about exposure to pre-marital activities, as it is about being prepare, ready and capable of managing personal health as they go through education” she stated.

Madam Doe-Sumah at the same time used the occasion to encourage students to stay focus on their education and reframed from activities that undermines their development.

“Education is key to breaking self-empowerment to navigate through the challenges of life. Beware that early sex leads to lots of things including dropout, teenage pregnancy, unwanted pregnancy, maternal mortality, and other forms of complications that can have long-term consequences in the future. While it is true we are teaching the importance of menstrual health and hygiene as a means of removing taboos, we are also warning you to abstain from sex until you complete school, get married, and ready to have a family because a healthy family makes a healthy nation,” she said.