#MHDay2024:
The power of collective action
2024 was a special MH Day. It marked the 10th anniversary and demonstrated an impressive testament to the power of collective action. This year, MH Day set new records across all major metrics, including reach and media coverage. MH Day is the most important global platform to push back period stigma and taboos. It puts the spotlight on critical issues such as access to products, education for girls and period-friendly infrastructure. It is the backbone of a global movement.
Learn more about how MH Day 2024 has helped create a #PeriodFriendlyWorld, what we collectively achieved and what new challenges have surfaced.
New records set
In 2024, MH Day generated 23,400 pieces of media coverage and 293,000 social media contributions. Collectively, we reached 966 million people all over the world. Each of these is a new record!
Collaboration is key
The figures from Africa particularly show that where organisations collaborate instead of operating alone, they achieve greater success and generate higher growth in numbers. A joint campaign in Uganda, for example, featured coordinated activities and a unified message that significantly boosted engagement across social and traditional media.
South America is now on the map
South America made the biggest leap from 2023 to 2024, recording a 191% increase in social media contributions, from 2,799 to 8,143. Media coverage also surged by 801%, from 184 to 1,664 pieces.
While this significant growth is partially due to the initial low baseline, the outstanding efforts of MH Day supporters and key partners focusing on the region also played a crucial role. Since the new JMP Report by Unicef and WHO also describes regional challenges surrounding menstrual health and hygiene, many media outlets have reported extensively on it. This has significantly contributed to the large increase in media coverage.
Media continues to be a huge ally
2024 marked another record in media reports with 23,400 media pieces — enough to fill 171 books.
More and more relevant media outlets worldwide, have marked MH Day as a fixed date in their editorial calendar. This means they are particularly open to content about menstruation during this time. Organisations know how to take advantage of this. They make it into the media with their events, insights into their work, announcements of new programmes or commitments, collaborations with influencers or celebrities, opinion pieces or demands to politicians and governments. And when they work together, the media interest is often even stronger.
Additionally, governments, multinational organisations, and large corporations increasingly announce their initiatives – such as programs for educating girls, improving access to products, or menstrual leave – around MH Day. They know they will gain significant media attention during this time. The same applies to new data, facts, and insights about menstruation, which are of high interest to the media and are often published around MH Day.
Relevant new data
There are still notable gaps in the data on menstrual health and hygiene compared to other issues, such as access to toilets. However, reliable data is essential to raise more funds, design programmes, measure progress, etc. It is therefore all the more pleasing that numerous relevant studies were published around MH Day 2024. To name just a few particularly important ones:
A new JMP Report by Unicef and WHO with a focus on menstrual health and hygiene, including national data for over 30 countries.
The results of a randomised evaluation of a menstrual hygiene intervention in Madagascar by J-PAL.
The P-Survey on stigma and period poverty in South Africa.
First data on the menstrual leave programme in Spain.
A study from India on regional disparities in MHM practices.
Various studies on period poverty and free period product programmes.
Numerous new data on period care markets.
A study on job prospects in the menstrual product sector.
A highly regarded study on cognitive performance during menstruation.
Potential to polarise
In 2024 the topic of menstruation increasingly became a polarising issue, especially in high-income countries like the USA and Canada.
Inclusive language, such as the term “menstruators”, without further context or explanation can trigger heated debates on social media, with strong backlash primarily from far-right groups. The far-right community is often well-organised and quickly generates a large wave of reactions. Some were so significant that major media outlets reported on it. In such heated debates, the focus shifts entirely to specific terms rather than the actual content, such as period-friendly working conditions.
Similarly, new or extended programmes improving access to period products in high-income countries were once widely applauded. Now, however, they face growing criticism, not only from the far right but also from the centre of society. This criticism often stems from viewing menstruation as a niche issue or not relevant in the context of broader crises.
In middle and low-income countries, inclusive language can also trigger a backlash. However, taking a clear stance publicly, for example by wearing the menstruation bracelet or introducing programmes to improve product access, are generally well received.
The MH Day movement keeps growing
The massive collective impact of MH Day is the result of organisations and individuals driving awareness and action around 28 May, online and on the ground. This movement keeps growing stronger and stronger and just hit 1,157 official partner organisations!
New theme and partner materials were well-received
The International Secretariat of MH Day started to reorganise the system of campaign materials in 2023. Instead of a collection of ready-made motifs, there is now a much more flexible "tool box" of content pieces: from the logo to thematic illustrations, the bracelet visuals to ready-made motifs.
The wide range of options provides something for everyone and allows organisations to easily tailor their content. In addition, new services and distribution channels, like Canva templates, were introduced. The flexibility of this unique approach was well received. Both, the campaign materials and Canva templates were widely used by the movement.
#PeriodFriendlyWorld was the most successful hashtag ever. It proved to be very flexible and was frequently adopted by organisations for regional or country-specific settings, e.g., #PeriodFriendlyIndia.
Political and financial commitment is still lagging behind
While political support for MHH has grown over the past few years, it is not enough. Mobilising the financial resources needed to drive real change will require increasing the political relevance of this issue and engaging more high-level decision-makers.
Greetings from the International Secretariat of MH Day, WASH United
#PeriodFriendlyWorld
The numbers at a glance
155
1157
Menstrual Hygiene Day has 1,157 official partner organisations, ranging from UNICEF, UNFPA and the World Bank to hundreds of small grassroots NGOs.
Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the most partners. India is the country with the highest number of partners.
89
23400
In 2024, our monitorings tools tracked 23,400 pieces of media coverage – which would fill 171 books, is a 31.25% increase from last year and a new all-time record!
South America really stood out, with media coverage skyrocketing by 801% — from 185 pieces last year to 1,664 this year.
North and Central America continues to be the most active region with 11,573 pieces (49.46% of total). Followed by Asia (17.61%), Europe (17.41%), South America (7.11%), Africa (4.9%) and Oceania (3.51%).
Note: We use the social media and media intelligence tool Meltwater to identify media pieces - published online, on radio or tv, but not including print - between April 29 and June 10 2024. The massive value for North America is also due to the fact that web-pages from e.g. African media outlets are often hosted on U.S. servers and therefore appear in the statistics here.
8000
293000
In 2024, our monitoring tools tracked 293,000 contributions on social media – which would take 42.5 days to read them all, is a 31.98% increase from last year and a new all-time record!
South America has made the biggest leap, recording an increase of 191% — from 2,799 pieces last year to 8,143 this year.
Africa continues to be the most active region with 115,916 contributions (39.56% of total), followed by North and Central America (26.72%), Asia (16.99%), Europe (12.95%), South America (2.78%) and Oceania (1%).
Note: We use the renowned social media and media intelligence tool Meltwater to identify contributions between April 29 and June 10 2024. We can only partially track contributions on LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram, and we cannot track Instagram stories. Hence, we estimate that the actual number of social media contributions is far higher.
22
966
This is the power of collective action: MH Day 2024 reached 966 million people – that’s 1/8th of the world’s population, a 37.8% increase from last year and a new all-time record! Every post, article, and conversation about menstruation during the campaign phase between April 29 and June 10 2024 made this possible.
But how exactly do we measure "reach"?
We use the renowned social media and media intelligence tool Meltwater to identify all social conversations and online media contributions, as well as to measure the gross reach. Based on this number and with the help of experts from the Meltwater team, we calculate the actual number of people reached.