Sar-e-Pul, Afghanistan — From a remote village, 16-year-old Molooda faced the common struggle of many adolescent girls: managing menstruation with limited knowledge and restricted access to sanitary materials. 

Travelling far to reach a UNFPA-supported Mother and Child Care Center (MCCC) to attend awareness sessions on Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM), Molooda shared feelings of isolation during her periods.

“I felt ashamed and uncomfortable,” she said. “I often stayed away from school and activities because I didn’t know how to manage my periods properly”.

Her experience began to change after attending the MHM awareness sessions together with girls her age at the MCCC. The sessions provided vital information on personal hygiene, the safe use of sanitary materials, and the overall importance of proper menstrual management, consistent with local context.

Molooda also received an Adolescent Girl’s Kit containing essential menstrual hygiene items, enabling her to immediately put her new knowledge into practice. Thanks to support from the European Commission’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG-ECHO), female service providers were able to empower adolescent girls by delivering awareness sessions on how to use menstrual hygiene management (MHM) kits, alongside their distribution.

The impact of this new learning on Molooda was immediate and profound. She noted that her self-confidence noticeably increased, and she began participating actively in various daily activities without hesitation.