The target area for the proposed intervention was Chinhut block of Lucknow district. The total block area was 108.28 sq. km and total population of the block was 82384 (in thousands).The idea behind Break Silence was to empower women in rural areas and bust the prevailing myths. Though menstruation is a natural physiological process, it has acquired the status of ‘PROBLEM’ directly for nearly half of the population and indirectly for the whole world due to stigmas, social-cultural myths and taboos, unavailability or scarcity of toilets and sanitary napkins and environmental concerns associated with it. The impact could be seen in absenteeism of girls from schools during menstruation thereby affecting their education, high prevalence of reproductive tract infection, depression among girls and women and their lower self-esteem, hindrance in normal daily activities of women, their seclusion from the public realm during menstruation and unhealthy environment due to prevailing disposal practices.The proposed intervention through this project tried to address the issue in holistic manner and made an initiative for:

• The awareness and education of women and girls on the issue and its importance through formation of various groups covering adolescent girls, women, parents, teachers and young couples, and  focused on sensitization of concerned officials and frontline workers.
• The availability of low cost sanitary napkins through its supply chain management starting with a feasibility study. THe project also explored  the options for manufacturing the low cost sanitary napkins in the village itself.

Thus the intervention adopted a twofold strategy with empowering girls and women with knowledge and skills to manage their menstruation and the sensitization of the community and health workers to create a favourable environment around the issue on the other with supply chain management of safe and hygienic materials and its safe disposal.

Results: The proposed project addressed the issue in a holistic manner and made an effort to touch important dimensions of the problem. It addressed the issue at the level of community and made intervention for sensitization, behavior change and capacity building. At the level of government it tried to influence the system and create a favorable and enabling environment through sensitization of concerned government officials, capacity building of frontline health workers. At the policy level it targeted facilitation of debate and discussion amongst important actors on the importance of menstrual hygiene and thus need of effective WASH service deliveries.

Project Purpose: Improving sanitation and water facility and menstrual hygiene education amongst women and girls of 33 panchayats of Chinhat block of Lucknow district / Improving the menstrual hygiene education and practices amongst women and girls of 33 panchayats of Chinhat block of Lucknow district and thereby improving the overall status of sanitation and water facility in the block.

• To empower adolescent girls and women with adequate knowledge and skills around menstrual hygiene issues in the intervention area.
• To empower adolescent girls and women with adequate knowledge and skills around menstrual hygiene issues in the intervention area
• To advocate with different related stakeholders (academia, media, department of health, education, social welfare, environment & sanitation), to create conducive environment and upscale key learnings.
• Establish linkages with initiatives and schemes by government and other sector institutions for leveraging the services to women and adolescents in the target community.

• Sustained efforts for more than 10 years for addressing menstrual hygiene management and its different domains incorporating its availability, disposal, multistakeholder dialogue and exploring safe environment friendly, biodegradable, affordable material.
• The programme has focused right from community intervention, research and advocacy at different levels.