Aditi Sharma is a Women Deliver Young Leader and an advocate for menstrual hygiene. Growing up in her native country of Nepal, lack of information about or access to menstrual hygiene was not only common — it was the norm. In the fall of 2016, Aditi received at US$5,000 seed grant — made possible by Johnson & Johnson and Women Deliver — to implement the Menstrual Hygiene Awareness Training Project, which promoted menstrual health and hygiene in Nepalese communities to empower girls and women by raising awareness among girls and women, as well as men, regarding menstrual hygiene.  The project also provided solutions to manage menstruation hygienically based on local and available resources, including how to properly use hygienic sanitary products.

In honor of Menstrual Hygiene Day, Women Deliver spoke with Aditi about her her seed grant project, her experience as an advocate for menstrual hygiene, and why this issue is so fundamental to gender equality and the health, rights, and wellbeing of girls and women.