Menstrual Health Equity for Women in Lebanon

Thanks to you, Days for Girls Enterprises are making incredible strides in Lebanon! And we are pleased to share the following with you, our amazing supporters:

• The political revolution taking place delayed our distribution dates; however, our Enterprise leaders were able to conduct their first distribution on February 22! This is the first of many they hope to conduct in the near future.

• Our Enterprises have also been busy filling orders they have received. Through a UNICEF funded project, our partner Concern Worldwide purchased Kits from our Enterprises and distributed them along with menstrual health education. They then conducted focus groups and received the following feedback: 

1. All thought the pads were of excellent quality, with the cotton being much softer and comfortable than the cheap ones from the $1 store. They feel healthier during their periods as they no longer suffer from allergies or infections.  
2. The project also contributed to the women feeling more confident as they no longer worry about how to dispose of single use pads.
3. (The unique colors and designs) gave them the capacity to wash them and let them dry outside without feeling ashamed.

• Finally, the DfG Lebanon Enterprises have just received an order for 2000 DfG Kits which will also be directed to refugees!

Thank you for your donations! Because of your generosity, we are able to continue reaching hard hit refugee girls and women in Lebanon with the tools they need to manage their menstruation with dignity. Your help is vital in our work to shatter stigma and limitations associated with menstruation for improved health, education, and livelihoods.

Thanks to your support, Days for Girls has been able to organize the collection of 3,600 DfG Kits that are on their way to Syrian refugees today! And our DfG Enterprise in Lebanon is making another another 500 Kits to reach our goal of 4,100 DfG Kits by the end of the year. This is part of a larger effort to reach 44,000 refugee women and girls in Afghanistan, South Sudan, Somalia, and Lebanon. 

What does it take to make this happen? A whole lot of passionate volunteers and energetic local leaders. Together they joined forces to respond to the growing and devastating needs of women and girls living in extremely difficult conditions. 

Thank you for your vital partnership in making sure that all women and girls have what they need to live with dignity and opportunities.  YOU are making a difference! 

3,600 DfG Kits are ready to be shipped! 

This quarter has been dedicated to planning and organizing a big upcoming project that will address the MHM needs of 4,000 refugee women and girls in Lebanon! 

DfG local leaders and project partners in Lebanon have reported on the tremendous need for more DfG Kits and health education in refugee settings. DfG Lebanon Country Coordinator Khayrieh says,"Most refugees can't afford pads because they need to spend what little money they have on food and medicine. They use old white cloths or old t-shirts instead, but the problem is they are too shy to wash this and hang it out to dry. This isn't safe for their health.”

To meet this need, DfG in Lebanon will be partnering with DfGI’s international Chapters and Teams program in order to reach 4,000 refugee women and girls in Lebanon with increased access to sustainable menstrual health products and vital menstrual health education. This is part of a wider DfGI refugee response program that is aiming to collectively reach 33,000 refugee and IDP women and girls in Lebanon, South Sudan, Somalia, and Afghanistan.

Khayrieh shares: “DfG Kits provide a wonderful alternative ... as they are multicolored, don't look like pads and they are safe to use! The AWH education is just as important because it teaches them information that most of them don't already know. It makes them more relaxed and confident and it breaks down taboos and stigmas. It has a lasting impact because they can pass the information on to their daughters, who will then pass it down to their daughters."

A large amount of preparation is currently taking place internationally! DfG Enterprise leaders and Chapters and Teams have been busy sewing, quality checking, assembling, and shipping DfG Kits in a true collective effort! Our project partners and Lebanon Country Coordinator Khayrieh have been busy organizing logistics and transport, coordinating and finalizing dates and details with local partners, performing baseline surveys, and managing timelines in order to ensure this project is a great success! 

Thanks to our GlobalGiving supporters, this project will be implemented in November 2019, through a large number of distributions of DfG Kits along with DfG’s menstrual health education to refugee women and girls!

Thanks to your support, we are able to continue to make strides towards our goal of increasing sustainable menstrual health solutions and MHM education to refugee women and girls in Lebanon!

Interested in learning more about Days for Girls in Lebanon? Check out this recent article published by Scene Arabia!

Links:

• Scene Arabia

World Refugee Day is June 20th and we are getting ready by featuring a new video filmed and produced by Tania Safi.  Thanks to your support, this is not a story about despair or destruction but rather one of hope and resilience.

The UN Refugee Agency, shares that we are now witnessing the highest levels of displacement on record, with a reported 68.5 million forcibly displaced people worldwide. Of those, 25.4 million are refugees and 40 million are internally displaced people (IDPs).

Award winning video journalist and filmmaker Tania Safi knows all too well these dire statistics and could no longer sit back and read articles that only showed refugees as victims. She knew that there were too many untold stories about the incredible resilience and strength of refugee women, so she decided to sell everything she owned and move to Lebanon to document stories about women and organizations who are making a difference.  

Upon arrival, Tania spent two days with Days for Girls’ local leaders learning about DfG’s response to the refugee crisis and participated in several Kit distributions that are all possible because of your donations.

The distributions were conducted by DfG Lebanon Country Director, Khayrieh Al Assaad who told Tania that most refugees could not afford pads because they needed to spend what little money they had on food and medicine. As a result, they used old white cloths or old t-shirts instead. This created a problem since they are too shy to wash and hang them out to dry.

Tania also came to understand the importance of education and why this is a core program for DfG distributions. She saw first hand the knowledge the women and girls gained about their own bodies during DfG education sessions.

“I believe we're all capable of helping change the world or to at least change it for one person, little by little, so why not? It's all about priorities and perspective. The world needs us today, not tomorrow.” --Tania Safi

Check out Tania’s amazing video Turning Periods into Pathways.

Links:

• Turning Periods into Pathways

Although the tides may be turning on the fighting in Syria, the question of returning home for Syrian refugees in neither certain nor simple. The crisis in Syria continues with significant gaps in the ability to meet basic needs for millions. For our refugee partners in Lebanon, there is still much work to be done to make improved health and hygiene a reality in the camps and settlements of Akkar district. With your support, we were able to make tremendous strides in 2018 with the establishment of 3 locally run DfG Enterprises and provision of DfG Kits and women’s health education to thousands.

The early part of 2019 has been dedicated to strategic planning and supply chain mapping to ensure that we can maximize the potential impact from our local partners. Khayrieh, our Program Manager in Lebanon, participated in an intensive workshop in January to learn best practices from DfG leaders in other parts of the world. Since returning home, she has been exploring partnerships that will allow us to reach more girls and women, and supporting local Enterprise partners to achieve the best quality possible.

The journey ahead is still difficult for many Syrian girls and women, but solutions for their menstrual cycle shouldn’t be. With the commitment of our Global Giving family, we can reduce the burden of menstrual health and open doorways to new opportunities for girls and women. Thank you for walking this path with us!