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Menstrual Pad Project | Unknown
Menstrual Pad Project  | Unknown
Menstrual Pad Project  | Unknown

Menstrual Packs for Equal Rights

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Regenerative 2030

  • Support school girls with washable, reusable sanitary products to promote menstrual hygiene, reduce absenteeism, and empower them to confidently attend school without interruption
  • Empower community involvement and livelihood skills
  • Promote and provide equal opportunities to all boys and girls for education and gender equality
  • support school-going girls with washable, reusable sanitary towels to promote menstrual hygiene, reduce absenteeism, and empower girls to confidently attend school without interruption

The World Expeditions Foundation is raising funds to purchase 150 menstrual packs in conjunction with The Luangwa Conservation and Community Fund. The ‘Ufulu’ (translation: freedom) project objective is to support school-going girls with washable, reusable sanitary towels to promote menstrual hygiene, reduce absenteeism, and empower girls to confidently attend school without interruption. The provision of menstrual packs is not only about providing girls with reusable pads but also empower girls knowledge and understanding surrounding menstrual health and hygiene. The pads can be used for up to 2 years and are made from 100% cotton, bamboo wearable and breathable materials, sewn by local women employed through this initiative. Each pad contributes toward reducing waste and promotes sustainable consumption. This project encourages equal equality girls the educational journey.

Addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Good Health And Well-being:  Ensuring healthy lives and promoting the well-being for all at all ages is essential to sustainable development.

Gender Equality:  Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but a necessary foundation for a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world.

Responsible Production and Consumption:  Responsible Production and Consumption

Reduced Inequalities:  To reduce inequalities, policies should be universal in principle, paying attention to the needs of disadvantaged and marginalized populations.

Quality Education:  Obtaining a quality education is the foundation to improving people’s lives and sustainable development.

Impacts

  • Each menstrual pack saves approximately 5 days of school that a girl may miss a month due to menstruation
  • Pad packs provide a sustainable, cost-effective solution for managing menstruation and reduce the risk of infections from unsafe menstrual management practices

Outcomes

Increased confidence levels, dignity and comfort, which allows the girls to focus on their education

Increased knowledge around menstrual health and hygiene practises

Lessens stigma around menstruation in rural Zambia

Background

In rural Zambia, as in many places in the world, women are unfairly disadvantaged in accessing education and career opportunities. The factors contributing to this include lack of proper menstrual hygiene products, resulting in up to one week of missed school per month, the high prevalence of males being sent for education in low-income households over females, early marriage, and the impact of cultural values on confidence and development. These issues are exacerbated in more remote areas where access to school is limited due to distance and less access to facilities.

The biggest challenges that girls face in obtaining and using safe sanitary products continue to be affordability and accessibility. Unfortunately, a lot of girls live in remote villages and many households face financial struggles. This means they are left to use cloth materials and cotton wool during menstruation. This poses different health risks and challenges. For example, cloth fills up too quickly and does not stay in place resulting in girls more likely to stain their uniforms or leak onto their school seats. The data has also confirmed that lot of girls did not know about reusable pads nor used them. A formative study on Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) in two Zambian Districts (2017) confirmed that girls attending rural schools lacked knowledge about menstruation and only received informal education about it. Instead, due to feeling fear, disappointment, shame, rejection and worry girls preferred to stay at home during menstruation to avoid any potential accidents or bullying. There is an urgent call to address inadequacies of menstrual education, break associated stigmas, myths and taboos. Project Luangwa has worked diligently in the field of education and gender equality for the past 14 years, and over this time they have seen an improvement in numbers of girls attending school, the overall level of confidence and breaking of harmful stereotypes.

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