Content Topic

Menstrual hygiene

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For Zainab, menstrual hygiene management is good business

13 years old Zainab Yakubu never knew she could be an entrepreneur at a young age. The junior secondary school girl who lives in Indabo community near Damagum, north-east Nigeria is however earning regular income from the sales of reusable but affordable menstrual pads. Zainab’s small business journey started with...

Clean, Safe Places for Menstrual Hygiene in Schools

Ikwe Racheal, is happy to be in school today despite being in her menstrual period. Ikwe, is twelve years, a primary six pupil of All Saints Primary School Obrike-Itoin Benue state, Nigeria. She said, “All the girls in the school look forward to being in the school all the time without missing lessons, because ou...

How Hauwa got her ‘freedom’ back

16 years old Hauwa Bukar of Muna IDP Camp in Maiduguri, north-east Nigeria used her headscarves for multiple purposes. While they adorn her head on most days of the month, she converted them to sanitary towels during her menstrual period. “Even with my scarves, I still had to stop going to school and stay at home ...

Malumfashi Community: Sustaining Menstrual Hygiene Management Through Peer-to-Peer Mentorship

No girl or woman should be left behind because of her period. In Malumfashi, a community in Katsina state of northern Nigeria, Rebecca Lazarus, dressed in her white school uniform and hijab, stands in front of her peers during the School Assembly. She is excited to share her knowledge about menstrual hygiene with ...

No more limits: Girls learn how to make their own sanitary pads

OSUN STATE, Nigeria, 28 May 2018 – For many girls in Nigeria, getting their period means putting their lives on hold. In some places, menstruation is associated with stigma and girls feel embarrassed, often excluding themselves from school and other social activities during their periods. Lack of access to functi...

Innovative water and sanitation services promote school attendance for girls

KANO STATE, northwest Nigeria, 20 June 2017 – There are now more girls in school than at home in Kambara, a village with a population of 2000 in Madobi Local Government Area, Kano state. Easy access to clean water for drinking and handwashing, and the availability of separate latrines give parents the confidence ...

Improved menstrual hygiene brings couples together in Adamawa State, northeast Nigeria

Adamawa, northeast Nigeria, 11 May 2017 – Women in Fufore town, Adamawa state have imbibed good menstrual hygiene practices due to efforts made by UNICEF-trained community members. These practices, which include personal hygiene and proper use of menstrual pads, have fostered intimacy between couples especially in...

20 February 2017

Water, hygiene and sanitation improves health – and romance

20 February 2017 - Nafisatu Yunusa is excited about change. The 23 year-old mother of three lives in Marafa, a village of just over 600 people in Bauchi State, northern Nigeria, where the dry winter season can be hard. Red dust clouds the sky, vegetation turns brown, and there's no rain for months. Like other rur...

An assessment of menstrual hygiene management in secondary schools

The global demands for greater understanding of the challenges menstruating school girls face and the associated potential risks and consequences are growing. This study was launched to investigate the knowledge, attitudes and practices of menstruating school girls on menstrual hygiene, and the environmental schoo...

01 December 2015

WASH in schools for girls: Voices from the field

Menstrual hygiene remains a taboo in many settings, with poor knowledge and misconceptions as great a challenge as access to adequate facilities. In recent years, a solid body of evidence has revealed the discriminatory nature of many school environments, with menstruating girls unable to adequately manage their m...