Building Thriving Menstrual Health Markets for All
Summary
In 2024, the Sanitation Hygiene Fund (SHF) committed to mobilize resources to assist in developing inclusive menstrual product standards that prioritize the perspectives of national stakeholders, including women and girls, in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) . SHF will provide technical assistance to 15 LMICs across Asia and Africa to facilitate their participation in the development of global ISO standards and subsequent national adoption by 2027. With the United Nations Populations Fund, the Gates Foundation, and the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition, SHF will build awareness among various actors at the international level on the importance of adopting these standards, while prioritizing local perspectives in the global standards process. These advocacy efforts will extend beyond the 15 countries targeted by this proposal to also secure the participation of other LMICs and enable the creation of thriving national and regional menstrual health markets.
Approach
The UN Sanitation and Hygiene Fund (SHF) aims to mobilize resources to assist the development of inclusive menstrual product standards that prioritize the dignity and safety of consumers so that women and girls can access quality, affordable products of choice. With an estimated 692 million menstruators in the countries targeted by this project, inclusive standards can make a massive difference in terms of education, health and economic empowerment for women and girls.
The development and adoption of global quality standards for menstrual products is essential to facilitate production, importation and trade of menstrual products across markets to deliver quality, affordable products of choice that extend to all consumers.
SHF will provide technical assistance to 15 countries across Africa and Asia, facilitating their participation in the development of global ISO standards and subsequent national adoption. Along with partner organizations, SHF will create awareness among various actors at the national level on the importance of adopting these standards, while ensuring that local perspectives feed into the global standards process. These advocacy efforts will extend beyond the countries targeted by this proposal to also secure the participation of other LMICs, and enable the creation of thriving national and regional menstrual health markets.
Finally, SHF will contribute to a harmonized approach to measuring the impact of these interventions which can serve as a catalyst for further development of these markets in other countries, strengthening data and evidence in a field where these are too often missing.
Through this Commitment to Action, SHF will ensure both greater representation of LMICs in the development of global standards and support its adoption in at least 15 countries by 2027. This is a vital component of ongoing work to shape the menstrual health market where safe and affordable products are available to all.
Action Plan
This Commitment to Action (CTA) aims to improve menstrual equity through the inclusive development of global menstrual products standards, and their adoption in at least 15 LMICs.
Q3 2024
Launch CTA on Building Thriving Menstrual Health Markets for All.
Q4 2024
Kick off collaboration with the Swedish Institute for Standards (SIS) to increase participation of National Standards Bodies (NSBs) from LMICs in the ISO Technical Committee (TC) 338 responsible for developing menstrual products standards.
Raise awareness on the importance of adopting menstrual product standards across LMICs and conduct outreach to ISO members from LMICs to increase participation in TC 338.
Start development of informational and advocacy tools on the urgency, potential and opportunities for standards development for LMICs together with RHSC.
Prepare country dialogues to be conducted three times a year (2025-2026) in target countries with UNFPA and launch national dialogue platforms.
Prepare launch of menstrual health market comparison study across target LMICs.
Q1 2025
Continue collaboration with SIS, capacity-building of National Standard Bodies to engage in the process, and quarterly national stakeholders dialogues in target countries to inform the global standard workstream.
Coordinate knowledge sharing and advocacy to replicate the approach in additional LMICs and increase impact.
Develop approach and baseline for menstrual health market comparison study across target LMICs.
Q2 2025 to Q4 2026
Continue collaboration with SIS, capacity-building of National Standard Bodies to engage in the process, and quarterly national stakeholders dialogues in target countries.
Virtual Information & awareness sessions among menstrual health market stakeholders led by RHSC.
Q1 & Q2 2027
Finalize and jointly disseminate ISO menstrual product global standards to relevant national and international stakeholders.
Continue supporting adoption of global standards in 15 target countries, and potentially other markets.
Menstrual Health Market comparison study finalized and released.
Background
Today, 1-in-3 women and girls in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) rely on toilet paper, rags and other non-purpose-made materials to manage their menstruation. This impacts their health, education, socio-economic participation and ultimately their future.
Single-use products sold on the market are simply too expensive, while product innovations that can cut costs by up to 15x are not available. Increasing access to menstrual products means making quality options available on markets in LMICs that people can afford. The development and adoption of menstrual products standards is a crucial step to make this happen.
Standards play a major role in trade: they guide manufacturers to meet quality and safety specifications; governments require them when products are imported; retailers often need them before putting products on their shelves and consumers rely on them to know if products are safe to use. In many LMICs, the absence of standards has prevented a range of innovative menstrual products from reaching users looking for quality and affordable options to manage their menstruation.
The ISO Technical Committee (TC) 338, led by the Swedish Institute of Standards (SiS) , is aiming to address this shortcoming by the end of 2026, by developing global menstrual product standards in four categories: single- and multi-use products worn externally or internally, covering everything from pads and tampons to period-underwear and menstrual cups. Success is reliant on national adoption, yet currently, less than 15% of low- and lower-middle income countries are represented in the technical committee, while their needs are the greatest
Progress Update
Partnership Opportunities
This Commitment to Action is part of SHF’s overall Menstrual Health and Hygiene Strategy. SHF has already secured 2 million USD, or 40% of resources needed, and is currently looking for partners to mobilize the remaining 2,750,000 USD to carry out this important work.
The additional financial resources mobilized through this commitment will ensure that a much wider group of LMICs is included in the menstrual products standards development process, and that these standards are adopted timely by countries, thereby significantly improving the health, quality of life and opportunities of millions of women and girls.
As SHF continues growing its Menstrual Health portfolio, raising awareness on the importance of developing local menstrual health markets will be key to success. SHF is in the process of identifying champions and is looking for partners to increase the visibility of this issue, including through media support., Joining a diverse network of stakeholders (UN agencies, governments, national standards agencies, SMEs/private sector, NGOs) , partners joining this Commitment to Action (CTA) avail the opportunity to co-drive the success pathway for this neglected area of women’s health. Forming the backbone of the effort, building collaboration around the imperative for standards means that partners tackle the heart of the matter – access to quality products for girls and women.
The open source Menstrual Health Market comparison study will provide partners and their stakeholders, with access to data and topic expertise on building menstrual health markets and the effectiveness of market interventions for expansion and growth.
Partners will also have the opportunity to join the Menstrual Health Funders Group, convened by SHF, which brings together selected strategic partners to drive and shape global and national menstrual health agendas: taking menstrual health from the bathroom to the boardroom.