AMN, Jasmine Hygiene pledge Rs 1m for menstrual health

In a move to promote menstrual hygiene and create inclusive economic growth opportunities, USAID Nepal and the USAID Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Partnership and Learning for Sustainability #2 (WASHPaLS#2) Dignified Workplace Program convened around 100 Nepali business leaders to celebrate Menstrual Hygiene Day 2024 in Kathmandu.

The event underscored the commitment of Nepal’s industrial and private sector leaders to fostering menstruation-friendly workplaces, highlighting the positive impact on working women and businesses. This initiative aims to create inclusive economic growth opportunities for all Nepali people.

Two major pledges marked the event: Dignified Workplace Advisory Board members and directors of the Annapurna Media Network, Sachan Thapa and Subha Khanal, committed Rs 1m worth of media spotlight to the Dignified Workplace Program in Nepal. Additionally, Executive Director of Jasmine Hygiene, Punit Sarda, pledged NPR one million worth of sanitary pads to the program.

USAID Nepal Health Office Director Patricia Mengech attended the event and stated, “The United States Government, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), is proud of our partnership with the private sector to dignify menstruation across the country and improve the sexual and reproductive health of women workers in Nepal. This support is part of a long-standing partnership—dating back over 70 years—between the US Government and Nepal to improve the health care and wellbeing of Nepalis. By helping remove another obstacle to the advancement of women, together we are contributing to our joint responsibility to make sure economic growth is inclusive of the vulnerable, poor, and marginalized populations (which so often include women), and to promote gender equality and inclusion.”

Dignified Workplace Advisory Board member Gaurav Agarwal, Director of Everest Hospitality and Chairman of the Shikhar Insurance Board, expressed his gratitude in a vote of thanks, stating, “A Dignified Workplace where women are respected and taken care of, including their menstrual hygiene needs, is a human right.” Agarwal also thanked the client companies pioneering the Dignified Workplace Program in Nepal, including Kathmandu Marriott, Fairfield by Marriott, Shikhar General Insurance, Hotel Tibet in Lazimpat, The Wonderland, ECOORB, Hulas Remittance, Om Gold House, Sunita Foundation, and Simrik Air.

The event saw the presence of several other distinguished Nepali business leaders, including Tsering Dolkar Lama and Tsewang Sadutshang from Hotel Tibet, Sashikant Agarwal from MS Group and Reliance Spinning, Saurav Jyoti from the Jyoti Group, Ram Sharan Ji Bhandari from Hams Hospital, Shikhar Garg from Om Gold House and The Wonderland, and Sahara Joshi from NYEF, among others.

Menstruation often brings shame, embarrassment, and physical discomfort for women in Nepal and globally. The Dignified Workplace program in Nepal, a two-year incubation action research project by USAID Nepal and USAID WASHPaLS#2, aims to improve menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) for women workers. It supports the local Dignified Workplace Network in Nepal to deliver integrated workplace-based advisory services.

USAID/WASHPaLS #2, a five-year (2021–2026) task order funded by the Bureau for Global Health, identifies and shares best practices for achieving sustainability, scale, and impact of evidence-based environmental health and WASH interventions.