UNB, Cox’s Bazar :
The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has partnered with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to safeguard women and girls’ dignity and improve their menstrual hygiene in Cox’s Bazar.
The partnership agreement with a value of $2,950,000 was signed by KOICA Country Director Youngah Doh and UNFPA Country Representative Dr Asa Torkelsson in the city Thursday.
Between 2021-2024, this partnership will support a variety of activities to improve knowledge of menstrual hygiene and to address the menstrual hygiene needs of women and girls in Cox’s Bazar.
A total of 17,160 adolescent girls, boys, female and male caregivers in 12 targeted communities are expected to directly benefit from the programme interventions.
Among the initiatives implemented by the project, adolescent girls and female caregivers in the targeted communities will be trained to produce reusable sanitary pads of their own.
Menstrual hygiene management kits with essential items for maintaining personal hygiene during menstruation will also be distributed to vulnerable adolescent girls in the communities.
Also, the project will raise awareness of menstrual health and hygiene-related issues among men and boys by integrating sessions on menstruation in the sexual and reproductive health and rights, and gender-transformative life skills education programmes that are currently being carried out in the district
Training on menstrual health and hygiene and gender equality will also be provided to religious and female leaders to normalise public discourse on menstruation in the targeted communities, as well as to promote understanding of menstrual hygiene management as a social issue that needs to be addressed by wider society, and not just women or girls.
Speaking at the project signing ceremony, Youngah said lack of adequate knowledge and facilities for menstrual health management (MHM) can pose a major obstacle to women and girls in maintaining their menstrual hygiene in a private, safe and dignified manner and systematically exclude them from participating in every-day activities, such as education and employment.
This project is an ongoing commitment of KOICA to work with the Bangladesh government to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 3.7, which aims to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services, she added.
Through this cooperation with KOICA and our other partners in Cox’s Bazar, we are excited to collaborate towards removing taboos and obstacles related to menstruation and to provide and make menstrual hygiene management more sustainable, more accessible to women and girls in Bangladesh, helping them realise their aspirations,” Dr Asa said.
