UNFPA and the Ministry of Health and Population launched on December 11 the Menstrual Health Management for Adolescent Girls Training Manual, with the support of the Embassy of the Netherlands.

The training manual, which is the first of its kind in Egypt, aims at empowering adolescent girls to promote their health and social wellbeing around menstruation, through providing them with comprehensive, age and gender-sensitive and timely information on menstruation and menstrual cycle.

It also seeks to educate them to adopt positive attitudes about menstruation and how to properly manage it.

The event was attended by Frederika Meijer, UNFPA Representative in Egypt, Han-Maurits Schaapveld, Ambassador of the Netherlands in Egypt, Dr. Wael Abdel Razek, Head of Primary Healthcare and Nursing Sector at the Ministry of Health and Population, and Dr. Mohamed Abdallah, Head of Central Administration of Integrated Healthcare.

“The link between girls’ empowerment and menstrual health management is a straightforward one,” Mejier said, “Menstrual health management is an integral part of reproductive healthcare for women and girls. Improving girls’ knowledge on menstrual health and their access to needed resources will contribute to their overall social, mental and physical wellbeing.”

“The natural biological process of the menstrual cycle is to be appreciated and respected,” Schaapveld said, “I am … proud to support and witness the launch of a curriculum that is contextualized to address this issue. Awareness is key here and this is what we hope this curriculum will achieve.”

During the event, the methodology of developing the training manual was presented, followed by discussions between relevant stakeholders from ministries and civil society organizations on integrating the manual into existing programs for adolescent girls.

To read the manual, visit this link