To spread awareness about Menstrual Hygiene in India| More than 20,000 people registered for the Virtual Marathon
National, 8th November 2022: Period Pal is much more than a period tracker. It’s a journal in which you can record and track your periods, ovulation, and fertility cycle. The app makes sure that all of the information and insights you require are only a click away. Over 23 million girls drop out of school each year due to lack of menstrual hygiene facilities. More than 71% of girls are completely unaware of menstruation, until their first menstrual cycle. However, the ground reality is far more horrifying than the aforementioned figures and statistics. With the objective to spread awareness and raise funds for the advancement of menstrual hygiene management facilities and infrastructure across India, Period Pal by Laiqa, launched its Virtual Marathon across India to spread awareness and raise funds for the MHAH facilities in India.
The much-awaited ‘Virtual Marathon’ was conducted across different categories – Step Up Run – 1 km, Fun Run 3.5 – 5 km; Half Marathon – 21.1 km; Mini Marathon – 10 km; Full Marathon – 42.192 km. The unique event witnessed participation from approximately 17 cities across India in its very first edition and saw more than 20,000 citizens register for the marathon. Since it was a virtual marathon, the participants could run from anywhere across the world and participate in arguably the biggest people’s movement aimed at raising awareness for Menstrual Hygiene in the country.
Period Pal by Laiqa collectively raised funds with participation from individuals, schools and college students, corporates, and stakeholders across India – something that unified citizens under one banner for a good cause. The funds collected from this movement will now be distributed to NGOs across the country working towards eradicating period poverty and spreading menstrual hygiene awareness. In a bid to further promote Menstrual Hygiene across Tier II & Tier III cities in India.
The massive participation showcased how the citizens of the country from different sectors and domains came together under one banner to fight for a cause.
Monica Bindra, Founder & CEO, Period Pal by Laiqa said, “We are pleased with the outcome of the ‘Virtual Marathon’, and as a responsible organization striving to create a positive impact in the community, the ‘Virtual Marathon’ was just the icing on the cake. The participation and the passion shown by the participants encourage us to continue this journey and run such campaigns and movements in the future to create a bigger impact and generate awareness for women across India.”
Since its inception, Laiqa has been on a mission to make people aware of the importance of menstrual hygiene and to help underprivileged menstruators get access to basic menstrual hygiene products. In its bid to successfully do that, Laiqa has conducted awareness programs through webinar and events including the prominent “Buy one donate one” activity. Acting on its long-term vision, the brand, via the ‘Virtual Marathon’, has managed to perfectly cater to spreading the word on the awareness and accessibility gap that not only demands attention but also subsequent action in what appears to be the need of the hour.
Manoj Prasad, CTO, Period Pal by Laiqa said, “Since the beginning, our objective of the marathon was always to create awareness about Menstrual Hygiene in India and we are pleased to see the impact that we have created through the event. The number of participation across industries and different age groups is a testimony to how we managed to ignite interest and evoke strong emotions from people regarding the need and importance of Menstrual Hygiene in India. Furthermore, the use of technology was also integral in making this a truly successful event.”
The response has been phenomenal and overwhelming for the very first edition. We look forward to making an impact in future with more similar and transformational events at a larger level. We believe that awareness programs and activations across India around MHAM facilities will help us continue our mission of educating and informing society about the importance of menstrual hygiene in India.
