QUEEN ‘MASENATE LAUNCHED NATIONAL MENSTRUAL HEALTH AND HYGIENE STRATEGY.

 Her Majesty Queen ‘M’asenate Mohato Seeiso officially launched the National Menstrual Health and Hygiene Strategy 2025/2030, marking a significant step towards improving menstrual health and hygiene for women and girls in Lesotho.

Speaking at the launch held at Avani Lesotho, Her Majesty stressed that no girl should miss school and no woman should lose work or economic opportunities because of a lack of access to menstrual products. She emphasized that every woman and girl deserves to manage menstruation with dignity, supported by accurate information, affordable products, clean water, safe sanitation facilities and access to appropriate healthcare.

Her Majesty highlighted that the success of the strategy will be measured by its impact on people’s lives, including keeping girls in school, enabling women to participate confidently in the workplace, and ensuring that schools and communities have adequate water, sanitation and safe disposal facilities.

She called on the Government to provide the leadership, resources and institutional support needed to integrate menstrual health and hygiene into national programmes, plans and budgets. She also urged development partners and civil society organizations to strengthen coordination, while encouraging the private sector to improve the affordability and accessibility of menstrual products and support local innovation.

Her Majesty further emphasized the importance of creating safe spaces in schools and communities where girls can access information and support without stigma or embarrassment. She called for boys and men to be included in menstrual health education, noting that supporting women and girls is a shared family, community and national responsibility.

The strategy provides a national framework built around six key areas: education and sensitization; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities; access to menstrual health materials and supplies; menstrual healthcare services; coordination and private sector engagement; and strengthened information management.

Her Majesty commended the Ministry of Health and all stakeholders, particularly the young people who contributed to the strategy’s development and called for sustained collective action to ensure that menstrual health services reach even the most remote and underserved communities.

Source: Department of Information, PR UNIT