International Menstrual Hygiene Day 2026

Facts & figures about MH Day and menstrual health & hygiene

About Menstrual Hygiene Day (MH Day)

• MH Day is celebrated annually on 28 May to symbolize the average length of the menstrual cycle (28) and duration of menstruation (5).
• It was initiated by WASH United and was first celebrated in 2014. WASH United is an award-winning non-profit based in Berlin/Germany, founded in 2011, with a focus on menstrual health and hygiene (MHH). WASH United focuses on strengthening the global MHH ecosystem by offering free, easy-to-use solutions for awareness, advocacy, and education, and engages in strategic advocacy throughout the year.

• The mission of the MH Day movement is to create a period-friendly world.

A period-friendly world is a world in which menstruation is accepted as a normal fact of life and is no longer stigmatised. It is a world in which everyone is educated about menstruation from an early age. In a period-friendly world, everyone has access to quality and affordable period products of their choice. Everyone has access to period-friendly toilets. And in a period-friendly world, menstrual health services are available to everyone. It is a world where no one is held back just because they menstruate. (MH Day mission)

• The impact of MH Day 2025: reach of 971 million people, 25,026 pieces of media coverage, 198,132 social media contributions, more than 2,000 events, and 1,350 partner organizations.

 
About Menstrual Health and Hygiene (MHH)

Global perspective of menstruation

• Globally, 2.1 billion adolescent girls and women menstruate. 
  (WHO/ UNICEF, Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000-2024. JMP, 2025)
• On any given day, approximately 375 million women and girls worldwide are menstruating. (Own calculation)

MHH-related challenges

• Number of persons in need: More than 500 million women do not have the resources and support that they need to manage their menstruation. 
  (Amaya L. et al., Advancing Gender Equity by Improving Menstrual Health. FSG, 2020)
• Period education: Globally, only around 2 out of 5 schools provide menstruation education. 
  (WHO/ UNICEF, Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene in schools, 2015-2023. JMP, 2024)(MH Day mission)

1 of 3  April 2026                                         Continued ...                                       #PeriodFriendlyWorld 

"Suffering in Silence" c/o David Robertson

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Suffering in Silence, 2018. Woodcut, each 2000 x 910 mm. Installation: 2400 x 5500 x 5500 mm

"David Robertson’s immersive print installation explores the stigma around mental health and the difficulties men have in reaching out for help. Consisting of 25 life-sized men, the figure is a self-portrait but is representative of any man. Formed of tally marks, each mark representing an individual." ...
[my emphasis].

The Holburne Museum:
https://www.holburne.org/events/holburne-open-david-robertson/

Image: With thanks to David Robertson

David Robertson
www.davidrobertsonprintmaker.com
QEST Scholar
Instagram.com/multiple_of_one 

My source: Printmaking Today Summer 2022, 31:122, p.7.
https://www.cellopress.co.uk/page/printmaking-today

The mechanics of Continental and Policy Drift

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	continental drift
	Younger folks may not know Gloria Steinem & Dorothy Pitman Hughes. These pioneers fought for racial and gender rights…50 years ago. pic.twitter.com/a72MukErsM — LiLong ☮️ (@MimawMoon) July 21, 2022

... slow movement ...

Thanks to Prof Linda Gask who Retweeted LiLong.

Symposium on challenging the notion of evidence: bringing rights into research

Dear Colleagues,

Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters (SRHM) is organising a symposium in New Delhi, India and online on enhancing the ecosystem of rights and evidence in sexual and reproductive health.

SRHM Journal

The symposium will create space for dialogue on:

- Deconstructing the notion and hierarchy of evidence
- Pushing methodological boundaries in SRHR research
- Questioning what constitutes “evidence-based”, a "researcher", and what is “scientifically appropriate”
- Questioning the power in research

This event is part of SRHM's global and South Asia hub initiative on rights-based knowledge creation.

Date: Friday May 6, 2022

Time: 10:30-1:00pm GMT - 4:00-6:30pm New Delhi

Register to attend in person in New Delhi: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/challenging-the-notion-of-evidence-bringing-rights-into-research-tickets-324001506227

Register to attend online: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_nB3Qxr-1Rs2e0blPb_J0JA

Please feel free to share with your network. We hope to see you at the event!

Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters
www.srhm.org | www.srhmjournal.org
Twitter: @SRHMJournal | FB: @SRHMJournal

 

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Mental Health Sexual and Reproductive Health Education - [Health] Literacy Questions: what constitutes “evidence-based”, a "researcher", and what is “scientifically appropriate”? Methodology SUBJECTIVITY - QUALITATIVE	Physical Health [Literacy] Sexual and Reproductive Health Hierarchy of Evidence Methods ... the Power in Research OBJECTIVITY - QUANTITATIVE
Society, Culture, Ethnographic Sexual and Reproductive Health	Human Rights Sexual and Reproductive Health

My source: HIFA

Power equation image: 

https://kaiserscience.wordpress.com/physics/word-energy-and-power/power/power-formula/

International Women's Day 2021#ChooseToChallenge

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choose	Bulgaria 1957 Women’s Day
Algeria 2004 International Women's Day	to CHALLENGE

 

Images: https://www.stampsoftheworld.co.uk/wiki/Category:International_Women%27s_Day

12.12.2019 International Universal Health Coverage Day

Every person—no matter who they are or where they live—should be able to get the quality health services they need without facing financial hardship. Three months after the historic UN High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage, join us on 12 December to tell leaders to Keep the Promise of health for all.

Ask your government leaders to Keep the Promise by sending a tweet or an advocacy letter.  A toolkit is available: https://universalhealthcoverageday.org/toolkit/

• Primary Hashtags: #HealthForAll #UHCDay
• Secondary Hashtag: #KeepThePromise
• Handles: @UN @UHC2030 @CSOs4UHC @WHO @UHC_Day

To learn about specific Regional Initiatives check out the Pan American Health Organization's (PAHO/WHO) website:
https://www.paho.org/hq/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14856:universal-health-day&Itemid=42091&lang=en

My source:

GANM (Global Alliance for Nursing and Midwifery)
https://knowledge-gateway.org/ganm

Genetic disorder: belief's a-gender

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Y I tell you what you will believe and IF you can have an education!	X Wither women in science and engineering?
X Whose place is this? 'Who' is the community? #BringOurGirlsBack	Y Human Rights for Girls and Boys

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

The 16 days ends on International Human Rights Day (December 10).

Image source email from: http://www.usaid.gov/