About MH Day
Only 10 years ago, that menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) was buried under a thick layer of silence. Hardly anyone talked about the issue in public, and it was not mentioned in the media. All due to the taboos and stigma surrounding it.
Silence is deadly for social issues. When they’re covered in silence, challenges that surround them don’t get addressed and they don’t become relevant for decision-makers.
That’s why WASH United initiated a global day dedicated to menstruation: the Menstrual Hygiene Day (MH Day), on 28 May. On the first MH Day in 2014, 155 partner organisations participated and 89 media pieces about menstruation were published.
Grown into a global movement
Since then, MH Day has taken place every year and, over the past 10 years, has grown into a global movement. In 2025, our monitoring tools tracked 25,026 pieces of media coverage, and the number of partner organizations has exceeded 1,315.
Their joint mission: Together for a #PeriodFriendlyWorld.
"Together" is crucial. No one can solve the menstruation-related challenges women and girls face alone. But together, we can.
MH Day serves as a catalyst
The campaign period of MH Day is around May 28. During this time, MH Day serves as a catalyst. Media around the world now have MH Day in their editorial calendars and use the occasion to publish menstruation-related content, including content about MH Day partners. This, combined with events and social media campaigns in particular by partners, generates a massive wave of attention and drives conversation around menstruation worldwide.
A powerful wave
This wave is so powerful that key institutions – such as governments, UN agencies, and big corporates – are pressured to act, for example to launch new large-scale programmes or adopt new policies.
WASH United: International Secretariat of MH Day
WASH United not only initiated MH Day but also coordinates the global movement. In addition to serving as the international Secretariat of MH Day, WASH United actively works in menstrual hygiene education, developing and disseminating low-cost, scalable solutions to improve knowledge and reduce stigma. The 15-person non-profit, based in Berlin/Germany, is committed to creating collective impact through collaboration.
WASH United is in constant exchange with partners and makes it super-easy for everyone to participate in MH Day by providing a toolbox of free campaign materials and capacity building. In addition, WASH United engages in strategic advocacy throughout the year to increase the political relevance of MHH and mobilise more funding for the issue.
WASH United doesn't fund or implement partner activities. All MH Day activities are coordinated by local MH Day partners. That's how MH Day achieves collective impact.
- overarching campaign strategy and planning
- development and dissemination of free campaign materials
- coordination and support of 1,300+ partner organisations
- communication via MH Day website and MH Day social media channels
- networking and strategic partnerships
- year-round advocacy for MHH funding and action
- monitoring of the collective impact of MH Day and reporting
- fundraising for the roles of the International Secretariat
The mission of MH Day
Instead of annual themes, the Menstrual Hygiene Day movement now unites behind one long-term mission: Together for a #PeriodFriendlyWorld.
In a #PeriodFriendlyWorld, the stigma and taboos surrounding menstruation are history. It is a world where everyone can access the products, period education, menstrual health services and period-friendly infrastructure they need.
What is your vision of a #PeriodFriendlyWorld?
Are you a journalist?
The Media Resources section offers key information for journalists. This includes the top 5 things to know about MH Day. Additionally, our experts are ready for quotes, comments, and interviews. We can also connect you with our partners for deeper regional insights.
Impact at a glance
+ 16.89% in comparison to 2025
This is the power of collective action: MH Day 2026 reached 1.135 billion people – that’s almost 1/7th of the world’s population – and a new all-time record! Every post, article, and conversation about menstruation during the campaign phase between 29 April to 10 June 2026 made this possible.
+ 14.22% in comparison to 2025
The MH Day partnership is now more than 1,500 organisations strong!
Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia are the most strongly represented within the partnership.
At the country level, India, the United States, and Nigeria rank as the top three partner countries.
More than 60% of the partners are national and international NGOs, showing that civil society is at the forefront of driving change in awareness and advocacy in MHH.
Please note that for multilateral and international NGOs, we only record the country of their headquarters and do not include the national offices; hence, they are mostly represented under North America and Europe.
+ 13.09% in comparison to 2025
The media has been an ally to the MH Day movement for a long time. Across regions and platforms, 28,301 media pieces reported on MHH topics around MH Day – an increase of 13% compared to last year.
This matters not just because of the higher number itself, but because media is one of the strongest multipliers we have. When a single event or announcement is picked up by radio or local press, its message reaches far beyond the room where it happened. When national outlets report on new commitments or policies, they help shift public awareness, push back stigma, and influence decision-makers. And when global media discuss MHH, it signals that the world is increasingly ready to talk about menstruation openly.
+ 51.31% in comparison to 2025
Why have social media contributions increased so significantly compared with 2025?
There are technical reasons for this: topic-based searches yield significantly more results on Facebook and Instagram. For the first time, we can search LinkedIn automatically. New networks, such as YouTube and Bluesky, have been added. About 50% of the additional hits are attributable solely to these new technical capabilities.
What other reasons are there?
We’ve gained a better understanding which hashtags or keywords MH Day partners use to label MH Day events. As a result, we were able to capture substantially more event-related content.
One of the five key areas of MHH has seen a real boom this year: menstrual health issues and services. Along with #periodfriendlyworld, #menstrualhealth is the most frequently found hashtag in 2026.
+ 50% in comparison to 2025
Around the world, people are coming together through in-person gatherings, community activations, educational sessions, webinars, and many other initiatives to advance the conversation on menstrual health and hygiene.
Given the sheer volume of submissions, we set a cut-off date for the data collection in mid-July. Despite this restriction, we were able to record more than 3,000 events worldwide.
While we are confident that many additional events took place beyond those captured in our count, this figure clearly demonstrates the reach and relevance of Menstrual Hygiene Day.