Y-PEER held a workshop for girls and young women on Menstrual Health Management in cooperation with the Egyptian Family Planning Association on December 16-22.

The training targeted 60 girls and young women aged 18-30 in the governorates of Sohag and Assiut.

The training employed a recently developed manual by UNFPA in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Population targeting adolescent girls with information on menstrual health management.

Y-PEER then adopted the manual and integrated interactive techniques into it and employed it reproductive health trainers, and peer educators, who in turn trained adolescent girls, and disseminated messages to enhance community awareness on menstrual health.

“This is the first time I attend a workshop on women’s health,” a 22-year-old participant who preferred to remain anonymous said. “I am proud to have been part of a safe space for women in society.”

“I learned that menstruation is not shameful,” another 24-year-old participant said, “before I couldn’t talk about it but now I will share information with women and girls like me … I will also teach my son in the future to adopt positive attitudes with his sisters, his wife, or his daughter.”

In December 2022, UNFPA and the Ministry of Health and Population launched 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.