Adolescent girls aged 14 to 19 years-led charter brings together girls from five NGOs to spotlight menstrual dignity, safety, and access for adolescents living in Mumbai’s informal settlements and across Maharashtra Mumbai, In a progressive toward advancing menstrual health and adolescent rights, Ujaas—an Aditya Birla Education Trust initiative founded by Advaitesha Birla—hosted a Youth Round Table Conference during Child Rights Week, reaffirming the importance of centering girls’voices in the conversation on menstrual health dignity.

Held at the Aditya Birla World Academy, the conference convened adolescent girls from underserved communities to draft Mumbai’s first-ever Charter of Menstrual Rights by Adolescent girls themselves, bringing out lived experiences during periods. Participants brought together by Ujaas represented five grassroots organisations—Vacha, CHIP, PUKAR, OSCAR Foundation, and CORO—all part of EMpower’s Learning Community cohort.

The girls opened the discussion by sharing their first-period experiences—stories of fear, stigma, misinformation, and societal restrictions. Their reflections highlighted the urgent need for community awareness, safe infrastructure, and supportive environments that enable adolescent girls to manage menstruation with dignity.

The Round Table reinforced Ujaas’ commitment to placing adolescent voices at the centre of menstrual health conversations and creating platforms where young girls can lead the change they wish to see.