The manual is meant to empower young girls to promote their health and social wellbeing by providing them with comprehensive, age and gender-sensitive and timely information on menstruation.

It also educates girls about adopting positive attitudes towards menstruation and how to properly manage it.

The event launching the manual was attended by Frederika Meijer, UNFPA representative in Egypt, Han-Maurits Schaapveld, ambassador of the Netherlands in Egypt, Wael Abdel-Razek, head of the Primary Healthcare and Nursing Sector at the Ministry of Health and Population, and Mohamed Abdallah, head of the Central Administration of Integrated Healthcare.

Meijer said there is a strong link between girls’ empowerment and menstrual health management.

“Menstrual health management is an integral part of reproductive healthcare for women and girls. Improving girls’ knowledge on menstrual health and their access to needed resources will contribute to their overall social, mental, and physical wellbeing,” Meijer said.

During the event, methods to develop the training manual were presented, followed by discussions between relevant stakeholders from ministries and civil society on integrating the manual into existing programmes for adolescent girls.

“I am proud to support and witness the launch of a curriculum that is contextualised to address this issue. Awareness is key here and this is what we hope this curriculum will achieve,” Schaapveld said.