The African Union Commission’s Women, Gender and Youth Directorate (AUC-WGYD) and the Sustainable Environment and Blue Economy (SEBE) Directorate under the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy, and Sustainable Environment (ARBE) successfully hosted a continental webinar. The event culminated a multi-layered campaign commemorating Menstrual Hygiene Day 2026 under the theme: “Dignity in Every Flow: Advancing Gender-Responsive WASH for Africa’s Future.”
This joint institutional milestone directly bridges Africa's human development agenda with technical infrastructure frameworks. It firmly positions Menstrual Health Management (MHM) within the 2026 African Union Theme of the Year: “Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems to Achieve the Goals of Agenda 2063.”
The webinar brought together policymakers, technical specialists, civil society networks, private sector innovators, and youth advocates. It served as a vital platform to dismantle societal taboos, showcase localized eco-friendly innovations, and mobilize political commitments across AU Member States. It further outlines a practical agenda to transform the African Union into a model menstrual health-friendly institution by strengthening gender-responsive water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure, ensuring clean and private restroom facilities, promoting health awareness, and expanding access to reproductive and psychosocial healthcare services.
Opening the webinar on behalf of Ms. Prudence Ngwenya, Director of the WGYD, Dr. Jeanne Flora Kayitesi emphasized that menstrual dignity is a matter of basic human rights, equity, and social justice.
"Sustainable water and sanitation systems can never be truly effective if they fail to respond to the daily realities of women and girls. For far too many across our continent, menstruation still imposes a tax of silence, missed school days, unsafe sanitation conditions, and diminished economic opportunities. This is a critical development issue."
Delivering the keynote address, Dr. Jihane El Gaouzi, Head of the Sustainable Environment Division, anchored the technical solution to this developmental gap:
"For our girls…the SEBE’s technical frameworks for climate-resilient water infrastructure must prioritize the specific hygiene needs of women and girls. We must move beyond awareness and transition into concrete, targeted action by accelerating public and private investments in school WASH infrastructure and championing youth-led green innovations."
Five Health and Wellbeing Ambassadors presented grassroots progress, community barriers, and scalable technical frameworks:
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Ms. Nematulai Barrie (Founder of Ikigai, Sierra Leone) called for long-term institutional backing to transform community advocacy into a continuous lifestyle that outlasts social media trends.
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Ms. Fatou Kiné Biteye (Founder of NUUR Association, Senegal) shared national strategies for retrofitting institutional school facilities to eliminate menstruation-related school absenteeism.
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Ms. Adama Bazil (Executive Director of Aura Foundation, Cameroon) highlighted methods to build safe spaces and health literacy while dismantling period poverty.
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Ms. Lucy Odiwa (Co-Founder of WomenChoices Industries, Tanzania) showcased the production of Salama Pads, demonstrating how affordable, locally manufactured, biodegradable sanitary materials create economic opportunities while advancing green, climate-resilient sanitation.
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Ms. Iness Royalty Mwansa (Youth WASH Ambassador Club, Zambia) urged public planners to target zero-compromise policies for clean, private, and safe sanitation infrastructure across civic and public spaces.
The African Union Commission and Member States are encouraged to prioritize the following immediate actions:
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Policy Domestication & Youth Inclusion: Target intense advocacy for Member States to domesticate gender-responsive health and sanitation frameworks while meaningfully including women and youth in policy-drafting processes.
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Targeted Public Infrastructure Investments: Accelerate public-private investments to supply schools, communities, and workplaces with clean toilets, running water, and sustainable circular-economy waste disposal systems.
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Multi-Sectoral Task Forces: Gender-responsive WASH Collaboration model at the national and continental level to unify portfolios across gender, education, circular-economy, innovations, water resources, and climate finance.
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Model Period-Friendly Workplaces: Enforce baseline facility cleanliness, privacy, and sustainable localized supply chains, such as partnering with social enterprises, to establish period-friendly civic spaces across the continent.
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Pivoting to Financial Autonomy: Prioritize internally funded, self-sustaining financial models to handle African WASH dependencies, moving away from short-term external aid.
Following this successful commemoration, the AUC will deploy a Joint MHM Tracking Matrix through the remainder of the 2026 Year of Water Sustainability. This will ensure that high-level policy commitments translate into tangible dignity, safety, and sustainable infrastructure on the ground.
For further information and media inquiries, please contact:
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Ms. Adele Onguene Atangana | Communications Associate and Technical Lead, Health & Well-being, Women, Gender and Youth Directorate | African Union Commission | E-mail: AtanganaA@AfricanUnion.org
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Mr. Gamal Eldin Ahmed A. Karrar | Senior Communication Officer | Information and Communication Directorate (ICD), African Union Commission | E-mail: GamalK@africanunion.org
