Menstrual Hygiene Awareness Experts

The Awareness Experts are responsible for cooperating together to design, develop,, and conduct effective and inclusive awareness campaigns (sessions and materials) targeting adolescent girls, women in menstrual age, and men. The objective of these campaigns is to empower the ladies in managing their menstrual health, reaching initiatives related to health and hygiene, and taking active part in de-stigmatization within their communities. This will lead to a shift in attitudes allowing more open conversations without shame and gender discrimination. Some of the topics to be covered in these campaigns are menstrual hygiene, personal hygiene, and period poverty.

I’mPossible is looking for a minimum of two experts, preferably one male and one female, that will cooperate with I’mPossible’s and PCPM’s Protection officers and coordinators in order to ensure that challenges that women and girls are facing (including gender mainstreaming and GBV training) are mitigated, an awareness plan/materials (electronic presentations, flyers, etc.,) and a questionnaire to assess women and girls’ needs (and possibly preference) for menstrual items are developed and used during the project to improve the delivery of services.

The experts should tailor hygiene promotion activities using the results of the needs assessment. When developing education materials, the Experts should make sure to involve women and girls to ensure the materials are culturally appropriate and representative. The Experts should use participatory methods with visual aids, demonstrations, community drama, games, or films to help with engagement and information retention which are especially important for illiterate women and girls. 

Key topics to cover in education sessions include:

• Education on puberty and the menstrual cycle
• Education and demonstration of hygienic practices for managing menstruation (cleaning, changing, washing, etc).
• Information and demonstration of washing and drying materials
• Information and demonstration of hygienic disposal of menstrual materials
• Information and demonstration of healthy menstrual management practices (symptom management, self-care)
• Education to dispel harmful cultural myths and taboos.

Key topics to cover in education sessions for men and boys include:
● Education on puberty and changes that boys and girl experience
● Education to dispel harmful cultural myths and taboos
● Discussions on how to support women and girls during menstruation

The Experts will be responsible and accountable for the following deliverables and responsibilities:

1. Develop a work plan and awareness materials

• Visualize and get a clear understanding of the project goals.
• Indicate the needs and the myths related to menstruation in conservative communities.
• Design awareness campaigns and presentations on the required topics.
• Design awareness materials including attractive PPT presentations, flyers, icebreakers, or any other materials needed during awareness campaigns.
• Discuss anticipated problems, potential limitations and steps to overcome them.
• Develop the data collection tools (questionnaire/survey) making sure that questions are well-constructed, the language is specific, the wording is neutral, the suggested responses are relevant and appropriate, and the questions collect the needed information.

2. Conduct awareness campaigns

• Target effectively and diligently adolescent girls, women, and even men, helping them vanquish myths related to menstruation and get better understanding of this biological process.
• Present interactive sessions to targeted beneficiaries.
• Develop and modify sessions to meet any recurring needs.
• Provide proper documentation for all awareness campaigns conducted, including extensive reports, photographs, and witnesses.

3. Recommendations:

• Based on the events, formulate actionable recommendations for improving menstrual hygiene in the Akkar community.

4. Report Writing:

• Compile the campaign findings, challenges, and recommendations into a comprehensive report.
• Include an executive summary, methodology, and conclusion sections.