Key takeaways
- Resilience and growth exist alongside the decline
- Africa was the most active region on social media
- North America was the biggest driver of the decline in contributions
- The decrease reflects external pressures, not reduced relevance
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After years of continuous growth, the number of social media contributions for MH Day decreased this year. While this may raise worries, it is not a sign of a weakening movement. The MH Day movement and the campaign it leads remain strong, active and impactful. But the decrease is the result of multifaceted challenges our movement is facing currently.
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Instead of rushing to conclusions, we want to unpack the reasons transparently and thoughtfully. This blog post takes a closer look at how social media contributions to MH Day were distributed across regions in 2025 and where the most significant changes occurred. Understanding this regional split gives us an important first insight into where the global decrease originated.
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<h2 class="heading-style-h4">What changed compared to last year?</h2>
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In 2024, MH Day metrics jumped significantly across the board – especially social media contributions and media pieces. This was a year marked by exceptional momentum: the 10-year anniversary of MH Day and the newly formed long-term mission "Together for a #PeriodFriendlyWorld"
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In 2025, this exceptional peak was followed by a noticeable shift. Social media contributions dropped to 198,132 posts, marking a <32% decrease compared to last year and falling below 2023 levels.
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That means we were able to track <span class="text-weight-semibold">32% fewer social media posts and reposts</span> that were about MH Day or related topics across different social media channels than in the year before.
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To understand what happened, the regional split offers valuable insights.
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<h2 class="heading-style-h4">Why the regional split matters</h2>
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Looking at global numbers alone can hide important dynamics. The regional distribution of social media contributions helps us understand whether a decline is global or region-specific, which regions had the strongest influence on the overall number, and where the movement shows resilience or renewed momentum.
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This perspective allows us to move beyond a single headline number and better understand how different contexts shape participation.
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<h2 class="heading-style-h4">How social media contributions were distributed in 2025</h2>
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<h3 class="heading-style-h5">North America: the biggest driver of the decline.</h3>
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North America was the second most active region in terms of social media contributions for MH Day in 2024. The region accounted for 27% of the global total. In 2025, contributions from the region dropped sharply.
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A reduction of <span class="text-weight-semibold">58% (≈40,000 posts)</span> pulled the global number down significantly. As a result, <span class="text-weight-semibold">North America’s share fell to 17%</span> of all social media contributions, making it the largest driver of the overall decline.
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<h3 class="heading-style-h5">Europe and Asia: notable decreases with lower overall impact.</h3>
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Both Europe and Asia recorded substantial drops in contributions, with <span class="text-weight-semibold">decreases of 41%</span> and <span class="text-weight-semibold">48%</span> respectively.
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However, because both regions already accounted for a smaller share of global contributions in 2024, their combined decline (≈20,000 posts) had less influence on the overall total than the shift seen in North America.
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Their share of the global contributions is now at <span class="text-weight-semibold">11%</span> for Europe and <span class="text-weight-semibold">13%</span> for Asia.
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<h3 class="heading-style-h5">Africa: remarkably stable.</h3>
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Africa, which was already the most active region for social media contributions in 2024, remained comparatively stable in 2025. With a decrease of only 20%, <span class="text-weight-semibold">Africa now stands out even more clearly as the most active region worldwide</span>, accounting for nearly half of all social media contributions we could measure for MH Day 2025.
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This stability is particularly notable given the high baseline Africa started from last year.
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<h3 class="heading-style-h5">South America: the only region with growth.</h3>
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For the second year in a row, South America recorded a strong increase in social media contributions. In 2025, the region reached <span class="text-weight-semibold">11.5%</span> of all global contributions, making it comparable to Europe and Asia.
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The increase in contributions can be traced back to a combination of structural and contextual factors. </p>
- A lower starting base in previous years made organic growth more likely.
- Companies such as <span class="text-weight-semibold">Softys</span> and <span class="text-weight-semibold">MIA</span> continued to work intensively with influencers, contributing to sustained visibility and engagement.
- In addition, one-off political moments played a role.
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<h2 class="heading-style-h4">Local context matters</h2>
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The regional breakdown makes one thing clear: the decrease in social media contributions was not uniform, nor driven by a single global cause with the same effect everywhere. This alone tells us that local context matters.
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In Colombia and Argentina, heated online debates emerged around government programmes related to menstrual health and hygiene, which drove the number of contributions.
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In Argentina, for example, the Milei administration not only cut initiatives but also used aggressive rhetoric, framing menstruation as an “ideology”. This discussion fuelled online engagement and helped propel Argentina to 7th place among the 30 most active countries around MH Day worldwide in 2025.
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In regions like the United States and parts of Europe political polarisation and growing backlash against gender-related topics have changed the tone and focus of online discourse.
These dynamics influence which issues people prioritise, how much space public debate gives to menstrual health and hygiene, and how many resources organisations can realistically allocate to online communication.
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One event had a particularly strong impact on our sector around the MH Day campaign period: the shutdown of USAID.
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A major announcement came in March, shortly before the campaign began, followed by the final closure on 1 July. Developments like this affect many of us directly – through programme terminations, funding insecurity, and shifts in public attention. They also influence how much time, energy, and capacity can go into campaigning on social media.
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In Asia, similar effects were amplified by acute political crises and conflicts, such as those in Nepal, which took precedence over conversations about menstruation and periods.
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<h2 class="heading-style-h4">Changes in the social media landscape</h2>
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However, the fact that most regions saw some level of decline suggests that broader dynamics are at play. More specifically: the social media landscape has changed and currently, these changes are difficult to navigate for the MHH sector. Let's take a closer look at how social media has changed to make sure the resources we put in social media bear fruits.
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