Episode 009: Menstrual Health Equity for Women in Lebanon with Khayrieh Al Assaad

The Days for Girls Podcast

Khayrieh Al Assaad is a women’s rights advocate, civil engineer and businesswoman from Akkar Al Atika in North Lebanon. Since joining DfG as our Lebanon Country Representative in 2017, she has led the distribution of more than 10,000 DfG Kits for Syrian refugee women and more than 3,000 Kits for Lebanese women affected by last summer’s Beirut explosions. She also works as a site engineer, coaches a women’s basketball team (started by the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon) and serves as a youth advisor for the U.S. Embassy. We are so lucky to have her in the DFG family for the past six years!

In this second episode of our International Women’s Day series, Khayrieh sits down to talk with us about her ongoing work with refugee communities in Lebanon, how her team pivoted to meet the needs of even more menstruators after the Beirut explosions, and the importance of overcoming widespread menstrual stigma to reach women and girls.

Highlights:

• The ongoing challenges faced by Syrian an Palestinian refugee women and girls in Lebanon
• Launching a menstruator-first humanitarian response when Beirut was hit by two explosions last August
• Pervasive menstrual taboos in Lebanon
• What inspires her to overcome challenges and continue this work

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Bio:

Khayrieh Al Assaad is a women’s rights advocate, civil engineer and businesswoman from Akkar Al Atika, North Lebanon. As DfG Lebanon Country Representative, she has led the distribution of more than 10,000 DfG Kits for Syrian refugee women and more than 3,000 Kits for Lebanese women affected by Beirut explosion.

Khayrieh has been with Days for Girls since 2017. A committed and passionate woman, she also works as a site engineer, coaches a women’s basketball team (started by the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon) and serves as a youth advisor for the U.S. Embassy.

Before joining Days for Girls, Khayrieh worked as a project manager for multiple women and youth empowerment projects in Lebanon, taught English in Turkey and led skills-based education courses for thousands of refugee students in Akkar.

Khayrieh’s diverse experiences continue to inform her work as the leader of DfG Lebanon – and help her fulfill her passion to uplift women and girls throughout the country.

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