In India, the state of Maharashtra has been pioneering innovations on MHM in both policy and practice since 2009. Government bodies, civil society organizations, social enterprises, and academia have collectively been proactive in generating robust evidence and approaches on menstrual hygiene management (MHM) for the past decade. A concerted action led by the state government, enabled systematic coordination between various ministries involved in MHM programming; allocating a generous budget, tracking progress, and leveraging the capacity of development partners to support cross-sectoral convergence and on-ground implementation. The state recognized MHM as a multi-sectoral issue that requires integrated action from the WASH, education, health, adolescents, protection and gender sectors, instead of implementing it as a stand-alone scheme. This field note documents the programmatic progress and the momentum that Maharashtra gained in menstrual hygiene management (MHM) at the state and district level in the last decade (2009-19). It shows how innovations in programming and convergence between all departments promoted menstrual hygiene behaviour change among girls, boys, parents, teachers, and others.
Language
English
Organization
UNICEF
Authors
Kabir, Y., Kulkarni, A., Tahiliani, B., Chandrasekar, R., Arora, R
Relevant locations
India
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