Menstrual Health Equity for Women in Lebanon

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