Shoheeda is a Rohingya refugee. She's just twelve years old but, like at least 700,000 others from Myanmar, her life has been torn apart by violence.

She was forced to flee her home due to devastating conflict, leaving behind the life she knew, to seek refuge in a camp in Bangladesh. 

Periods can be a difficult (and expensive) time for anyone who menstruates. But for thousands of women and girls like Shoheeda, who have had to flee home with nothing, it’s a monthly emergency. Many will face an impossible choice between their next meal or a sanitary pad. 

ActionAid provided Shoheeda with a hygiene kit containing essentials like soap, clean underwear and sanitary pads, so she can manage her periods safely and with dignity.

Since the outbreak of violence in 2017, we’ve distributed over 40,000 hygiene kits to Rohingya refugees, and we're working hard to end period poverty for women and girls all over the world. But there are still more girls like Shoheeda who need our help.

Please donate to help us reach more girls like Shoheeda. A regular gift from you could help us be there for Rohingya refugees - not just today, but in the months to come.

Because no girl, anywhere, should have to choose between food and sanitary protection.

How your donation can help

Your donation could help refugees manage their periods safely.

Donation value

£10 per month

could help fund our outreach work towards ending the practice of period shaming

£7 per month

could help fund workshops to teach girls how to make their own reusable sanitary towels

£3 per month

could help provide hygiene kits containing sanitary towels for girls who can’t afford them

Or choose your own amount to give

£
per month

About ActionAid

ActionAid is an international charity that works with women and girls living in poverty.

Our dedicated local staff are changing the world with women and girls. We are ending violence and fighting poverty so that all women, everywhere, can create the future they want.

We operate in rural and urban communities across Asia, Africa and Latin America.

We’re committed to ending the cycle of violence in communities around the world, enabling women’s economic empowerment, and supporting women’s and girls’ rights during humanitarian crises.

Our work supporting women and girls in emergencies

When a disaster strikes, women and girls tell us that amongst the items that they need are sanitary towels, wipes and soap. Without these products, they are forced to use improvised methods to manage their periods including torn pieces of clothing, rags or dirty rugs. This can be ineffective, uncomfortable and unhygienic. 

That is why we provide sanitary kits in our humanitarian response work, alongside other essentials including food, water and shelter. 

We have distributed sanitary towels in crises as wide-ranging as the Nepal earthquakes of 2015, in Jordan and in Greece as part of our response to the Syrian refugee crisis, in East Africa during the food crisis of 2017 and to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh in 2017-18.

They are often distributed at our Women Friendly Spaces, which we set up in the aftermath of disasters to provide a safe space for women and girls who may be at risk of violence. 

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How we use the money you donate: pie chart

How we use the money you give us

For every £1 we spend:

73p is spent on humanitarian and development programmes and strengthening our global federation

13p is spent on fundraising

11p is spent on support costs (running the organisation)

3p is spent on campaigning for change

These figures are taken from our expenditure in 2023

We’re committed to keeping our supporters happy and being open and honest about how we fundraise. To find out more you can read our supporter promise.

Why we’re asking for a monthly gift

All money helps, and we’re grateful for whatever you feel you can afford.

A one-off donation is a fantastic start, but the kind of extreme poverty that many women and girls are facing are long-term problems, and they need long-term solutions. We don’t walk away. We’re committed to making a sustainable difference and changing lives for good.

Regular donations to ActionAid mean that when an emergency strikes we are able to act fast to provide life-saving aid and urgently needed supplies.

A regular gift from you means that we can commit to being there for women and girls who desperately need us, both now and in the future.

Please donate now and help change lives for good.

Donate now

Top photo: 12-year-old Shoheeda is a Rohingya refugee. She received a hygiene kit from ActionAid. Credit: Noor Alam/ActionAid

Page updated 26 July 2024