UNICEF Goodwill Advocate Kareena Kapoor felicitates champions of change in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, 4 June 2016 – In an event in Lucknow this morning, popular Bollywood actor and UNICEF Goodwill Advocate, Kareena Kapoor, today congratulated a group of adolescent girls for their work in promoting improved menstrual hygiene in Uttar Pradesh. Calling them ‘champions of change’, Ms. Kapoor interacted and spent time with the adolescents who hail from the rural areas of the state.

The young girls are a part of ‘Garima’, a UNICEF-spearheaded project, which addresses and strengthens menstrual hygiene management in Uttar Pradesh. Supported by the IKEA Foundation, the project in three eastern UP districts—Jaunpur, Mirzapur and Sonebhadra—has demonstrated behavioural change and increased awareness and self-confidence among adolescent girls. The project aims at piloting a social and behavioural change and communication strategy for menstrual health and hygiene management among rural adolescent girls in the age group of 10-19 years who have experienced or are about to experience menarche.

Impressed by their work, Ms. Kapoor said, “All the girls I met today are brave and empowered adolescents. They are champions of change and without their contributions we can’t break the silence around gender equality and the rights of girls and women.” "We have countless number of empowered adolescent girls in India and I had the privilege to meet some of them from UP. I would like to thank UNICEF for supporting these girls in their journey. They are now champions of promoting a crucial cause: Menstrual Hygiene Management,” the actor added.

Adolescence is a period of salient physical and psychological changes during which young people learn skills that help them assume control of their lives and make informed decisions. Since menstruation marks the beginning of womanhood, its proper management is critical in promoting healthy reproductive and sexual health. In the absence of access to right information related to appropriate practices and limited access to knowledge on menstrual hygiene, menarche and subsequent menstruation cycles, this phase can be a distressing experience for a young girl.

“Today is a very special day, because we are talking about menstrual hygiene, publicly for the first time. Mother-daughter bonds are very strong and we talk about so many issues but often not about menstruation. We as mothers do not teach our daughters often as they might get scared. Talking about menstrual hygiene is a very important issue. We need to talk about this issue and no longer should it be considered as a social taboo,” said Ms Dimple Yadav, Member of Parliament, Kannauj.

After meeting the girls, Ms. Kapoor attended a felicitation event along with government officials, UNICEF and its partners. In this event—organized to mark the culmination of a week-long celebration of Menstrual Hygiene Day in UP—a convergent roadmap to strengthen states’ plans for adolescent empowerment, with special reference to menstrual hygiene management, was released by the Uttar Pradesh government and UNICEF. 

“Despite numerous interventions on sanitation and health, menstrual hygiene and management has not yet received adequate attention. Given the social and cultural taboos around menstruation, addressing it is crucial towards impacting the well-being and empowerment of adolescent girls and also to reduce school drop-out among them,” said Niloufar Pourzand, chief of the UNICEF office, Uttar Pradesh.

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