Innovative Strategies For Providing Menstruation Supportive Water, Sanitation And Hygiene (WASH) Facilities: Learning

September 2020

There is growing attention to addressing the menstrual hygiene management (MHM) needs of the over 21 million displaced adolescent girls and women globally. Current approaches to MHM-related humanitarian programming often prioritize the provision of menstrual materials and information.

However, a critical component of an MHM response includes the construction and maintenance of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities, including more female-friendly toilets. This enables spaces for menstruating girls and women to change, dispose, wash and dry menstrual materials; all of which are integral tasks required for MHM.

A global assessment identied a number of innovations focused on designing and implementing menstruation-supportive WASH facilities in the refugee camps located in Cox’s Bazar (CXB), Bangladesh. These pilot efforts strove to include the use of more participatory methodologies in the process of developing the new MHM-supportive WASH approaches.

Additional details

PublisherColumbia University, Mailman School of Public Health
CountryBangladesh
ThemesChallenging contexts, Fragile contexts, Gender, Leave no one behind, Menstrual health and hygiene
LanguageEnglish

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