Dear all,
 
We're delighted to share a new publication by Dr. Amita Bhakta (Independent WASH consultant) and Naomi Vernon (Sanitation Learning Hub) giving practical advice to WASH practitioners The Menopause: Hidden WASH Needs .

WASH programmes need to adapt to include (peri)menopausal women’s needs.

These include increased:
· Bathing
· Laundry
· Menstrual health & hygiene management
· Incontinence management
 


Read the full resource here . 
 
Please let us know what you think about this resource and this issue.
 
Best wishes
Elaine 

Hi Paresh,

Thank you so much  for your reply and for taking an interest in this workshop on the hidden WASH needs of perimenopausal women. The perimenopause (transition to the menopause when menstruation permanently ceases) is  a very under-discussed topic in society in general as well as in the WASH sector, because it is so taboo and women seldom speak about their experiences. Over a period of 6 years, I worked closely with perimenopausal women in Ghana and  the UK to understand their WASH needs as they reached the end of menstruation for my PhD at Loughborough University between 2013 and 2019. In this time I  identified that women aged from their mid-40s have diverse WASH and infrastructural needs for menstrual hygiene management to deal with heavy and irregular  menstrual periods, incontinence, sweating, hot flushes and regular drinking. In particular, the women highlighted the lack of attention that the WASH sector has paid to date to bathing and laundry. In the workshop,  participants will be able to hear directly from women in the Ghana and the UK about how they were managing their WASH  needs through a series of audio recordings. The session is highly interactive and will have lots of time for discussion throughout with activities at different points and breakout groups. It is hoped that by the end of the session, participants will not only learn about the WASH needs of perimenopausal women, but also come away with solutions on how they can be addressed. The session is relevant to people specialising in all areas of WASH, from inclusion, to water supply, sanitation and FSM, and waste management, because it covers a wide range of components.

Key resources on the WASH needs of perimenopausal women for some preliminary reading if anyone is interested are available here:  WASH for Perimenopausal Women - Amita Bhakta - Hidden WASH (amita-bhakta-hidden-wash.net)    

Registration for the workshop is open and people who are interested in joining can book their places here:  RWSN Workshop: Hidden WASH needs of perimenopausal women Tickets, Wed 17 Aug 2022 at 12:00 | Eventbrite   . The  fee for this part-funded course is £10 GBP and includes a certificate of participation. 

A reminder that this half-day live-taught RWSN workshop is on 17th August at 11am GMT/12pm BST on Zoom. 

We hope that you and other members of the forum are able to join us!

Best wishes,
Amita (co-lead, leave no-one behind, Rural Water Supply Network)

Thank you Amita for posting about this workshop which deals with a very niche topic. 

For the benefit of members who will not be able to join, could you direct us to a few short pieces and/or research papers that have dealt with the subject. It would hopefully also entice a few on the fence to register. 

Regards
paresh

Dear Colleagues,

The Leave no-one behind team at Rural Water Supply Network are running a new ‘hidden WASH’ online capacity building workshop for individuals in the WASH sector to learn about a brand-new element of inclusion, the perimenopause, looking at the needs of older women at the end of their reproductive lifestage. This will be led and live-taught by me with the support of RWSN staff.  As the first form of training on this topic in the WASH sector, this half-day capacity development workshop uses empirical findings from Ghana and the UK to introduce the ‘hidden’ WASH needs of perimenopausal women aged in their late 40s and 50s, expanding current understandings of equity and inclusion. In this workshop, we explore what the perimenopause is, women’s hygiene needs for menstrual hygiene, bathing, laundry and incontinence management during this lifestage and why they are hidden, and identify infrastructural issues faced by perimenopausal women from a WASH perspective. This workshop also helps participants to identify and implement the key infrastructural and software solutions needed to address the needs of perimenopausal women through WASH programming. 

 By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to: 

• Describe what the perimenopause is and list the associated symptoms of the perimenopause (including incontinence)
• Understand what is meant by hidden knowledge in WASH 
• Outline the key WASH needs of perimenopausal women
• Describe the infrastructural requirements of perimenopausal women 
• Identify appropriate solutions for meeting the WASH needs of perimenopausal women

Participant fee: 10 GBP (including a certificate of participation) Thanks to the financial support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation for sponsoring this course for RWSN participants. 

Date: 17th August 2022  

Time: 11am GMT- 3pm GMT (12pm BST – 4pm BST ) on Zoom

Participants can register here:  RWSN Workshop: Hidden WASH needs of perimenopausal women Tickets, Wed 17 Aug 2022 at 12:00 | Eventbrite

Registration deadline: 15th August 2022.

Please note the course will be delivered in English. The number of participants for this training course is limited – participants will be able to register on a first-come, first-served basis. This course is sponsored by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation through RWSN, who are funding the majority of costs for each person. Each participant is requested to contribute a nominal fee of £10 to cover the cost of the certificate of participation as well as to keep the number of participants capped to a manageable number for the trainers. At present, we are accepting course participants on a first-come, first-served basis. We hope you are able to join us.

Best wishes,
Amita (co-lead, leave no-one behind, RWSN)