Fighting Period Poverty in Uganda
The Menstrual Hygiene Poverty Fight Project helps vulnerable young girls in Uganda manage their periods with dignity by giving them access to reusable sanitary pads, menstrual health education, and safe hygiene facilities.
Many girls in Uganda, especially in rural areas, miss between 8 to 24 school days each year because they cannot afford sanitary pads or don’t have the knowledge and safe spaces to manage their periods. This causes them to fall behind in school, perform poorly in exams, and sometimes drop out completely. About 65% of women and girls in Uganda cannot afford sanitary pads.
Some girls even engage in unsafe activities like sex to afford menstrual products or choose teen pregnancies to avoid monthly periods. These risks lead to school dropout and sexually transmitted infections.
Working in partnership with the Rotary Club of Kampala Kawempe
This project aims to break this cycle by:
- Distributing reusable sanitary pads to vulnerable girls.
- Teaching girls how to make and use reusable pads using local materials.
- Providing menstrual health and reproductive education to girls and to schoolteachers, to increase the impact of the project.
The goal is to help girls stay in school during their periods and give them the knowledge and tools to care for their health and future.
