From Crisis to Collective Resilience: Co-Creating Locally Rooted SBCC for Menstrual Health and Economic Empowerment in Plateau State, Northern Nigeria

The prolonged farmer herder crisis in Plateau State has displaced communities and deepened economic inequalities, reducing women of reproductive age's ability to access essential health needs, including menstrual hygiene services. The Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS 2024) shows that only 41.3% of women use disposable sanitary pads, while 60.1% rely on cloth and 5.1% use only underwear reflecting widespread menstrual poverty. These inequities intersect with disrupted livelihoods and limited access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services, especially among internally displaced persons (IDPs) and returnees in six crisis-affected LGAs. 

To address these challenges, the PSI Nigeria-led, GIZ-supported Nigeria Economic Empowerment and Menstrual Health (NEEMH) project applied a participatory social and behaviour change communication (SBCC) co-creation process to adapt national menstrual health tools to Plateau's unique context. The project mobilized a multi-sectoral platform of government actors including the Plateau State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development and the Primary Health Care Board, alongside Civil Society Organizations, women's collectives, and youth groups to redesign communication materials using local language, imagery, and lived experience.

Preliminary results indicate that stigma, affordability, and product access remain major barriers; however, the co-creation process strengthened message relevance, fostered community ownership, and promoted collective action, effectively linking menstrual health and hygiene management (MHM) with economic empowerment. This approach demonstrates how participatory, equity-driven SBCC can mobilize systems for resilience and provide a scalable model for fragile and humanitarian settings globally.