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Plan India Celebrates the Culmination of Its 28-Day Campaign Why Shy to Talk Periods

Plan India today celebrated the culmination of its 28-day campaign #WHYSHY To Talk Periods which sensitised around 28,000 adolescent girls and boys on menstrual health education and hygiene management in over 300 schools across Jharkhand and Delhi.

Publication: IANS
Publication Date: May 31, 2022
Link: https://ians.in/prwiredetail/plan-india-celebrates-the-culmination-of-its-28-day-campaign-why-shy-to-talk-periods/B-79053.html

New Delhi: Plan India today celebrated the culmination of its 28-day campaign #WHYSHY To Talk Periods which sensitised around 28,000 adolescent girls and boys on menstrual health education and hygiene management in over 300 schools across Jharkhand and Delhi. The campaign focused on building the knowledge and confidence of girls in their ability to manage menstrual health and hygiene with safety and dignity.

The culmination event was attended by Dr. Sushma Dureja, Senior Chief Medical Officer, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. Of India, Ms. Ranjana Prasad – Member of the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Dr. Rupali Goyal – District Program Officer (RCH) -Delhi (East), Directorate of Family Welfare, GNCT of Delhi.

Highlighting the need to increase menstrual health awareness among communities, especially adolescent girls and young women, the campaign challenged social myths and taboos surrounding puberty to end menstrual-related stigma and discrimination. It highlighted 28 stories of the first menstruation of girls from its communities as messages to spread awareness on menstrual hygiene management and breaking the silence.

Apart from educating girls about hygiene management, the campaign also spoke of how they should dispose of menstrual waste. The majority of girls lack education about the importance of cleaning, drying, and storing absorbents hygienically, as a result, they suffer from reproductive tract infections.

“We need to challenge the misconceptions around menstruation. During these 28 days, we reached out to girls in our schools and communities about the importance of maintaining hygiene during periods. Additionally, we encouraged them not to be ashamed of talking about their periods. This is a natural phenomenon that needs to be discussed openly within our families and society,” said Anchal, Plan India’s Peer Educator from Delhi.

“Plan India believes that menstrual equity can be achieved by promoting gender equality, addressing the taboos and misconceptions on menstrual hygiene and creating access to menstrual health products for all women and girls. Our adolescent girls’ health and ending period poverty initiative is led by girls themselves and seeks to promote dignity, safety, and confidence for all girls and young women enabling them to lead healthier and happy lives,” said Mohammed Asif, Executive Director, Plan India.

#WHYSHY To Talk Periods was launched on May 4, 2022, under Plan India’s ‘Menstrual Health Education Project in India’. The project is being implemented in partnership with Kimberly-Clark Corporation, USA, in 3 resettlement colonies/urban slums in the national capital of Delhi and the Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand. It aims to increase the knowledge and confidence of adolescent girls and young women in their ability to manage menstrual health and hygiene.

New coalition seeks to create ‘menstrual equity’

The prolonged Covid restrictions had an unfortunate fallout on menstrual hygiene that had been gradually gathering pace. As household incomes dropped, poor women were forced to push personal hygiene products to the bottom of the grocery list.

Publication: The Times Of India (Print & Online)
Published Date: Mar 23, 2022
Link: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/new-coalition-seeks-to-create-menstrual-equity/articleshow/90384727.cms

MUMBAI: The prolonged Covid restrictions had an unfortunate fallout on menstrual hygiene that had been gradually gathering pace. As household incomes dropped, poor women were forced to push personal hygiene products to the bottom of the grocery list.

A new alliance now hopes to remedy this situation.

The Miss Universe Organization (MUO), reigning Miss Universe 2021 Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu, social entrepreneur Arunachalam Muruganantham aka Pad Man, social impact agency DDB For Good, and the NGO Plan India on Tuesday announced a coalition and social impact alliance to create a platform for “menstrual equity”.
The project aims to reach five million women by 2025. As Miss Universe 2021, Harnaaz said it will convert “period poverty to period powerty”.

Plan India is the on-ground NGO partner.

DDB For Good, DDB Mudra Group’s dedicated social impact agency, in partnership with Changing Our World, will raise funds.

The effort begins in India where 62% women have no access to safe menstrual care, with plans to go international. The coalition’s multi-million dollar fundraising goal will reduce stigma, promote education, policy and access to sanitary products.

Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu secured the national title of LIVA Miss Diva Universe 2021 and went on to the international stage to win Miss Universe 2021.

Harnaaz said, “I am proud to help launch this initiative. My mother is a gynaecologist so I am aware of the menstrual inequity in India. Now I can help carry on her work by bringing awareness to this coalition of individuals and organizations who are working together to end the stigma, educate the public, and provide access to necessary products.”

Padma Shri Arunachalam Muruganantham narrated moving experiences of his struggle to break taboos and help women secure sanitary products. He will help the coalition set up affordable manufacturing units in places most affected by period poverty. These units will be run by women themselves.

Shally Mukherjee, founder and head, DDB For Good, said the issue had been close to their hearts for several years. She said, “Our belief is simple—collaborations with shared commitment can truly scale up efforts that bring change.”
Mohammed Asif, executive director, Plan India, said, “Menstrual equity is out of reach for three in five girls. We are happy to help create a national and global initiative to achieve menstrual equity by 2030.”

Plan India organise 4th national conference Plan for Every Child 2021 – Build Back Better with Girls

New Delhi [India], December 7 (ANI/BusinessWire India): The 4th national conference ‘Plan For Every Child’ – Build Back Better with Girls’ started today at The Park Hotel in New Delhi.

The two-day conference, from December 07 to 08, 2021 brings together a series of power-packed discussions that aim at formalising clear action points to mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19 on girls.

Organised by Plan India, the conference would be attended by people from diverse backgrounds like jurists, government officials, media, civil society organisations, experts, and child rights practitioners from the national and international sphere to discuss the multifaceted agenda of inclusion, safety and equality for and with girls, in building a better India post the pandemic.

The inaugural session was attended by Sriram Haridass, Representative India and Country Director, Bhutan a.i., United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Dr Dnyaneshwar Manohar Mulay, Member, National Human Rights (NHRC), Major General Manoj Kumar Bindal, Executive Director, National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) and Rathi Vinay Jha, President, Plan India Governing Board and Former Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. Hon’ble Justice Madan B. Lokur, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India will also join the conference to deliver the special address outlining the need for legal awareness and legal literacy for girls for building back better.

Commenting on Plan India’s commitment to girl-centered community development, Mohammed Asif, Executive Director, Plan India said, “The COVID-19 pandemic has created many challenges and slowed down the pace of development and change that was being achieved through the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao initiative. It is important that collaborative efforts for advancing education, nutrition, health, safety nets for all girls and women are undertaken with renewed vigour by government, civil society, and corporates. At the Plan for Every Child Conference, more than 30 eminent Speakers and experts would deliberate and resent the pathway to girl-centered community development in post-COVID situation. They would focus on the solutions and safety nets for millions of girls, children and women with a vision to enable them to learn, lead, decide and thrive.”

The two-day conference will facilitate multiple sessions, presentations, and discussions on addressing the barriers for girls and young women in getting access to; inclusive and quality education, health services, child development, and mental well-being, essential medicines, and vaccines, maternal and reproductive health care, food security and nutrition, especially in rural and marginalized communities.

The delegates would also deliberate on how communities, local NGOs, institutions, corporates, and the state could put girls first and develop integrated approaches towards eliminating gender-based violence in all its forms. Plan India would follow up on the recommendations from the conference with policymakers, corporates, and other stakeholders on enabling innovations and new approaches for scale and impact.

Plan India has been successfully organising ‘Plan for Every Child (P4EC) National Conference’ since 2016 with Ministry of Women and Child Development and Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Govt. of India. These national conferences brought in rich and varied perspectives on prevention, system strengthening, safeguarding children, equality for girls and provided recommendations on the priorities and opportunities for the advancement of girls’ rights.

In its first year, deliberations from the conference founded the 2016 India Declaration – a commitment by 500 NGOs across 32 states and union territories along with key stakeholders in government, media, and subject matter experts, to protect and uphold the rights of the child. Following this collective declaration, we examined the interface of inclusion, access, and opportunities for girls in the 2017 conference by bringing to the platform, important deliberations regarding solutions and best practices for challenges faced by girls.

Furthermore, the conference brought forth voices of the youth from around the country. The 2018 Conference brought insights and strong recommendations to bring rich and varied perspectives on justice for children and system strengthening to safeguard child rights.

Publication: The Print

Published Date: Dec 07, 2021
Link: https://theprint.in/ani-press-releases/plan-india-organise-4th-national-conference-plan-for-every-child-2021-build-back-better-with-girls/777782/

30 girls across India take over influential leadership positions

On International Day of the Girl Child Tuesday, 30 girls from all over India took over leadership positions of ambassadors, high commissioners across diplomatic missions, corporate and government bodies for the day, NGO Plan India said.

New Delhi, Oct 12 (PTI) On International Day of the Girl Child Tuesday, 30 girls from all over India took over leadership positions of ambassadors, high commissioners across diplomatic missions, corporate and government bodies for the day, NGO Plan India said.

Through these symbolic takeovers, these highly determined gender champions smashed gender stereotypes, encouraged positive discourses, called out on discriminatory social norms and mobilized supporters for a gender equal society, Plan India said in a statement.

Mohammed Asif, Executive Director, Plan India, said though symbolic in nature, by occupying such positions of power the “girl changemakers” are able to amplify their voice to a larger audience.

It also serves as an inspiration for them as they go about planning for their career and prominent roles in the society.

Orly Goldschmidt, Head of Public Diplomacy, Embassy of Israel in India, said: “It was our great pleasure to collaborate with Plan India on such an important campaign. We were very happy to welcome Samta in our Embassy. She is a bright, young girl, with lots of dreams and ambitions. Interacting with her and getting to know her was inspiring. I wish her all the best for her future endeavours.”

One of the 30 girls who have taken over influential positions across diplomatic missions and elsewhere in the country, Samta has been placed at Israel embassy.

Embassies where these girls carried out the symbolic takeovers from envoys included Mexico, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Germany and Finland, Plan India said.

Published Date: Oct 12, 2021
Link: https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll/30-girls-across-india-take-over-influential-leadership-positions/2177089

INTERNATIONAL GIRL CHILD DAY: HOW LEGAL LITERACY AIDS CLAIMING RIGHTS

On International Day of the Girl Child, we need to ask how we can ensure girls’ rights are no longer just on paper.

In 2011, the UN General Assembly declared 11th October as the International Day of the Girl Child to raise awareness about the unique challenges girls face and the need to address those challenges, including promoting girls’ empowerment and the fulfillment of their human rights.

Publication: The Quint

Published Date: Oct 11, 2021
Link: https://www.thequint.com/voices/opinion/international-day-of-the-girl-child-legal-literacy-child-marriage-covid-child-brides

creating a safer and more inclusive cyberspace for girls and young women

“Don’t be caught IN THE WEB”, the article talks about creating a safer and more inclusive cyberspace for girls and young women and attributes it to Pinky Pradhan

“Don’t be caught IN THE WEB”, the article talks about creating a safer and more inclusive cyberspace for girls and young women and attributes it to Pinky Pradhan, Director, Marketing and Communications, Plan India. The article highlights Kirti’s story and how she is championing the rights of girls’ equality through her work in Plan India’s Safer Cities Project. Citing The State of World’s Girls Report – ‘Free to Be Online’ by Plan International, the article states that more than half of the 14,000 respondents across 22 countries have been victim to online harassment or abuse.

Publication: Femina
Published Date: Feb 24, 2021

Femina February 2021 issue Page 6 scaled

How Plan India’s Saksham is skilling youth and opening up new opportunities

Launched in 2010, Saksham focuses another kind of NEET – ‘Neither in Education, Employment or Training’ – for youth.

Launched in 2010, Saksham focuses another kind of NEET – ‘Neither in Education, Employment or Training’ – for youth, especially girls, from urban and rural disadvantaged areas. The programme equips them with free, market-oriented vocational skills and job and entrepreneurial training. Launched in 2010, Saksham focuses another kind of NEET – ‘Neither in Education, Employment or Training’ – for youth, especially girls, from urban and rural disadvantaged areas. The programme equips them with free, market-oriented vocational skills and job and entrepreneurial training.

Publication: Your Story

Published Date: Dec 24, 2020
Link: https://yourstory.com/socialstory/2020/12/plan-india-saksham-skilling-youth-employability

She’s a woman on a mission

COVID cases in the country kept on rising and the schools were closed for an indefinite period.

COVID cases in the country kept on rising and the schools were closed for an indefinite period. Pavitra stayed home for a few days, but she couldn’t let her students miss out on getting an education — there was just too much at stake. Hence began a journey where she would go from house to house, convincing each student’s parents to send their child to a temporary school, under a tree, in their village. “The parents were immediately on board, for their kids were out of touch with their subjects for a while,” she says.

Publication: New Indian Express

Published Date: Nov 22, 2020

Pedagogy despite the pandemic

How children without access to online education in Jharkhand and Bihar villages get their lessons

Publication: The Hindu Business Line

Published Date: Oct 30, 2020

22 girls take over social media handles of corporates and diplomats to amplify gender equality

Twenty-two young girl changemakers from took over the social media accounts of several corporates, diplomats, and media houses to promote equality in opportunities for women to be decision makers, on the International Day of the Girl Child. Helmed by development and humanitarian organisation, Plan India, participants with significant contributions to society were selected after a comprehensive screening process. They hail from nine states including New Delhi, Uttarakhand, Odisha, Bihar, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, and Jharkhand.

Publication: YourStory

Published Date: Oct 12, 2020

Sources:

https://yourstory.com/herstory/2020/10/girls-social-media-takeover-hnm-embassy

https://www.theweek.in/wire-updates/national/2020/10/11/del43-idg-girls-diplomatic-missions.html