A holistic approach to tackling menstrual hygiene management in rural communities in Kenya

Brighter Communities Worldwide has been working with communities in Kericho County, Kenya for over fifteen years. We began working on Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) in 2010 through a programme called Girls 4 Girls which targeted girls in schools. In 2016 we started mainstreaming MHM across all our programmes. In the same year we began piloting a programme called Community MHM because it was our view that to tackle taboos surrounding MHM in communities, all community members needed to be involved. It is our view that Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) requires a multidimensional approach and that improved MHM will have benefits for all sectors of the community. This paper gives an overview of that Community MHM programme and what has been achieved through the programme thus far.