Improving Menstrual Hygiene Management for Rohingya Adolescent Girls in Bangladesh

Since 2017, approximately 867,000 Rohingya have fled violence in Myanmar and sought refuge in Bangladesh. Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMNs) live in a series of 34 camps in the southern sub-districts of Cox’s Bazar, a district in the southeast of the country.

Fifty-two percent of Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar are women and girls. In an emergency and humanitarian setting such as this, women and girls have specific needs that are often unmet. One of the most immediate—and least talked about—needs is support for menstrual hygiene management (MHM). To address this gap, Pathfinder implemented a pilot project—Improving Menstrual Hygiene Management in Emergencies for Rohingya Adolescent Girls in Cox’s Bazar—from October 2020 to April 2021 in Blocks C and D of Camp-22. This brief provides an update on core activities, results, and recommendations for future implementation in Cox’s Bazar and for pilots or programs in similar settings.