The ministry has developed guidelines to reduce problems related to menstrual health and justice for adolescent girls and schoolgirls on the basis of gender equality and environmental justice.
What you should know
The Ministry of Social Development of Karnali Province has issued guidelines on menstrual health and justice.
The ministry has formulated the guidelines, saying that it is necessary to reduce the problems related to menstrual health and justice of adolescent girls and schoolgirls on the basis of gender equality and environmental justice. Minister for Social Development Ghanashyam Bhandari made the guidelines public during a program on Friday.
He said that the guidelines are also important to end the practices including Chhaupadi in Karnali. ‘The history of Chhaupadi practice linked to menstruation is made up of a mixture of religious beliefs, patriarchal thinking and mental structures, and guidelines were seen as essential to eliminate it,’ Minister Bhandari said, ‘Article 38(3) of the Constitution of Nepal also provides every woman with the right to safe motherhood and reproductive health, and we have also formulated a provincial plan for its full implementation.’
According to the National Census-2078, 313,000 schoolgirls are studying in Karnali from grades 6 to 12. The federal government is distributing menstrual management materials for them free of charge.
A facilitation committee has been formed at the provincial level under the coordination of the secretary of the ministry and the local level chief or deputy chief for the implementation of legal and policy arrangements related to menstruation.
Secretary of the ministry Dholak Raj Dhakal said that the guidelines will help in conducting menstrual management in an integrated manner. ‘It was seen that safe management of menstruation is necessary to make the future of adolescents and school girls bright, provide career development and employment opportunities,’ he said, ‘this will help reduce harmful social practices and minimize negative environmental impacts.’
According to the ministry, a menstrual health and justice project has been launched in Panchapuri Municipality and Barahatal Rural Municipality of Surkhet. The Youth (YGGP) is conducting a campaign to reduce menstrual pain in 12 wards of the two municipalities to promote good governance.
The organization’s executive director, Ghanshyam KC, said that 360 adolescents have joined the campaign. "The safe menstruation campaign has reduced the practice of chhau," he said. "Menstruation awareness in rural areas, construction of physical infrastructure for sanitation, and distribution of menstrual management materials are becoming effective."
