No Water, No Dignity

Water is more than a resource. It is a foundation for health, dignity, education and human development.

For millions of girls across Africa, however, access to safe water, sanitation, hygiene facilities and menstrual health information remains deeply unequal. A girl may have access to a classroom but lack a safe place to manage her period. She may have access to water but not at the privacy, safety or reliability required for menstrual hygiene. She may receive menstrual products but still lack the knowledge, facilities and social environment necessary to menstruate with dignity.

No Water, No Dignity brings menstrual health into the wider WASH conversation.

The side event will examine how water, sanitation and hygiene systems intersect with menstrual health, education, gender equality and the everyday dignity of girls and women.

Through perspectives from government, WASH institutions, civil society, development actors, health professionals, young people and other stakeholders, the conversation will explore practical approaches for moving menstrual health from the margins of water and sanitation discussions into mainstream policy, planning and investment.

Because there can be no meaningful conversation about water and sanitation without asking what those systems mean for girls and women when they menstruate.