An Interaction program on “A Changing Perspective-Dignified Menstruation in Nepal” was organized virtually by the Nepalese Association of Florida (NAF) on Saturday, March 27th, 2021. Previously, NAF organized an introductory virtual interaction program on “Dignified Menstruation” with Global South Coalition for Dignified Menstruation (GSCDM) to raise awareness about Dignified Menstruation. This time, the program was focused on the work of different young social activists working on Dignified Menstruation in Nepal, the challenges, and the accomplishments.
The program was attended by panelist Dr. Garima Shrestha, Founder SHE, Ms. Manita Devkota, MHM Activist/Days for Girls Nepal, Women’s Health Advocate, and Former Miss Universe Nepal, Ms. Bhawan Raut Youth Leader/Social Activist and Ms. Smarika Nepal, Youth Activist/Founding Co-President WomenForNepal spoke during the program.
At the beginning of the program, Dr. Garima Shrestha presented her initiative SHE Nepal’s activities; this was followed by an update and activities of Days of Girls-Nepal by Ms. Manita Devkota. She highlighted how Days of Girls-Nepal is educating young girls on Menstruation and how it is helping to build employment opportunities, focusing on manufacturing reusable menstruation-pad in a different district in Nepal. She also highlighted how difficult it is for young girls and women to attend school or colleges during menstruation due to the unavailability of clean toilets, too poor to buy pads, etc. Ms. Bhawan Raut highlighted how she and her team are working on the policymaking aspect with the Department of Education. She also highlighted how it will be effective if we start education to break the prevalent taboos from the home; she also shared her personal experience about how she managed to break the taboo within her own family. She implies that if young girls are educated in advance on these issues during school days, it may be possible to break these taboos. The youngest panelist, Ms. Smarika Nepal from West Palm Beach Florida, discussed her initiative “Women’s for Nepal” and how she is currently working with her friends in the USA to raise awareness about menstruation taboos that exist in Nepal. She also shared how she is using Instagram to create short stories about taboos in Nepal. She also discussed her involvement in creating a worldwide menstruation database in August where she discussed “Chaupadi Pratha” from Nepal. The program was moderated by NAF Vice-President Dr. Pragati Ghimire Aryal and General Secretary Dr. Niraj Shrestha. The program lasted for almost two hours where participants discussed the different strategies to break taboos, girls and family education on menstruation, religious perspectives, eco-friendly menstrual sanitary product and widespread use of it, sustainability of the different initiatives, and how the pandemic is affecting the different programs focused on dignified menstruation in Nepal.
At the end of the program, NAF President Ms. Anila Neupane and General Secretary Dr. Niraj Shrestha highlighted the significance of the program and thanked all the speakers and guests. If you need more information about this program and NAF activities, please email us at naflorida2016@gmail.com
Sincerely,
NAF Executive Team
