Y-PEER Making Menstruation hygienic and ‘fun’ Shubha Kayastha International Coordinator in charge for Advocacy

When was the first time you heard about menstruation? What was your age? By whom? What was been said and what did you understood?

Background In Nepal, Menstrual taboos that are deeply rooted in the culture of some castes prohibit women and girls from fully participating in daily life and inhibit their education. Some girls and women are not allowed to enter a kitchen, touch water, attend religious functions, and in extreme cases, are not allowed to drink cow milk, eat fruit or sleep in a bed.

Young girls and Water, sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) School drop out of adolescent girls

Chhaupadi

Market available Sanitary Pads: Hygienic but usually expensive, not available everywhere Easy to carry, difficult to dispose Use of chemicals for white colour MSP → Papers → woods and natural materials→ cutting down of trees → deforestation

Women and girls in poor countries can’t afford sanitary pads or tampons Instead, the vast majority of women and girls in Nepal use rags. These are usually torn from old clothes washable, reusable, Unhygienic - Dried in dark shade Issues of shame

Alternative Sanitary Pad (ASP)

Merits and Demerits Alternative Sanitary Pad (ASP) Affordable, can use available resources (Rs. 50-60 = less than $1) reusable but not always practical Environmental friendly but could have negative consequences to health (if not properly washed and dried) Applicable in the rural areas and attractive (designs and sewing) No chemicals, harmful elements

Project on Alternative Sanitary Pad (ASP)

After the orientation………

Menstruation MELA

A young couple making ASP together

Achievements: Tara Sharma, (18) said, ‘Now I can carry it easily without being identified by others.’ A male youth supervisor (32) shared, this is a new concept and will be popular in our village A young girl (19), from Western Nepal shared that, ‘I have made few more and gifted to my cousins’

THANK YOU NAMASTE