Australian charity Share the Dignity has announced plans to host the world’s first Global Period Poverty Forum, bringing together leading voices on menstrual health management and advocacy.

Taking place in Brisbane from 10 – 12 October 2022 and via livestream, the three-day event will drive meaningful discussions and action towards menstrual equity across the globe.

Delegates will hear from world leaders in menstrual hygiene, including keynote speakers Schaeffer Okore, Director of Policy and Advocacy Women Political Leaders Organisation, Dr Arunachalam Muruganantham “Padman”, Inventor, Founder and CEO of Jayashree Industries, and Dr Carmen Logie, Associate Professor, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto.

Share the Dignity Founder and Managing Director Rochelle Courtenay said the event will galvanise global leaders to enact change in their respective countries to end period poverty.

“This is the first time that we have seen changemakers from around the world unite to discuss menstrual health management practices and advocacy. This in itself is incredible progress,” Courtenay said.

“We know that change doesn’t happen in three days, but this is where it starts. By sharing knowledge, experiences, successes and learnings, we will know better, and then we can do better.

“We invite individuals and organisations with a shared passion, purpose and influence to address period poverty within their communities to attend the Global Period Poverty Forum – which we hope is the first of many to come.”

Highlights from the three-day event include sessions on the challenges and opportunities for the menstrual movement, systemic issues that contribute to period poverty, and panel discussions highlighting case studies from around the world. Delegates will also have the opportunity to network at evening events, including a Welcome Reception and “Paint the Town Red” Gala Dinner.

GPPF speaker Tina Leslie, Founder of Freedom4Girls UK, said it would be groundbreaking to have so many passionate people from across the globe in one room.

“The forum is fantastic news to all of us who fight for the menstrual equity of the people we support,” Leslie said.

“I truly believe we all need to keep the issue of period poverty on the worldwide agenda for governments and policy decision makers, and I believe this forum will be a force to be reckoned with.”

Danika Revell, co-founder and CEO of The Period Place and another GPPF speaker, added that the forum would equip changemakers with the knowledge, inspiration and tools to make a real, on the ground difference.

“It frustrates me that something as simple as a pad is out of reach for so many people with periods, and I swore I’d make it my life’s work to end it in Aotearoa,” Revell said.

“The Global Period Poverty Forum is going to cast a big bloody spotlight on period poverty, or period inequity, and highlight the systemic changes that need to be made by every country globally.”