Ritu: improving Menstrual Health of girls in Bangladesh

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The final Ritu report is out!

The Ritu programme aimed at improving menstrual health of girls in Bangladesh. In a period of four years, Share-Net Netherlands member Simavi, in collaboration with RedOrange and TNO, worked with BNPS and DORP, towards improved menstrual health of girls in Bangladesh.

This report showcases their results, including a selection of data from the randomized controlled trial (RCT) that shows the positive impact of the Ritu programme on girls’ menstrual health. At the same time, they provide details on approaches, reflections and key lessons learned.

They feel that it’s important to be transparent and open, so that these lessons are available for others too. They hope to inspire donors and organisations to invest in menstrual health.


With the RCT, we did not only contribute to the evidence base on menstrual health programming. We also learned a lot from our collaboration with the researchers connected to the programme. Based ond their advice, we decided to limited the variety of interventions and use evidence to select those that were most likely to achieve the expected impact. This enabled us to really invest in and monitor the quality of each intervention. Moreover, the results can now more easily be linked to specific interventions and we have a simple model that can be scaled-up in different contexts.
Hilda Alberda, Menstrual Health expertHilda Alberda, Menstrual Health expert
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Read the final report of Ritu:


Examples of personal stories to be found in the report:

Avoid eating egg, meat, fish, milk during menstruation was an ancient tradition in my family for a long time. My mother has been following this tradition and she compelled me to follow the tradition. I also transferred the same knowledge and attitude to my daughter, even not to let her attend school during menstruation. But, my views has been changed after attending the Ritu sessions organised by BNPS. Now I try to persuade my daughter to eat nutritious food, encourage her to be attentive in school, to participate in the sports, because I want my daughter to be a great person in the future.

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