Sexual And Reproductive Health Rights
To address the issue of menstrual health and the challenges girls and women face regarding access to hygiene and stigma, we launched the Healthy Periods Initiative to provide information, access, and opportunities regarding menstrual health and hygiene in rural communities.
The Healthy Periods Initiative
The Healthy Periods Initiative drives economic and socio-cultural change through enterprise and education. From a grassroots level, we inform, educate, and provide resources to assist in managing menstruation and developing successful social enterprises that produce and distribute low-cost, eco-friendly, high-quality disposable sanitary pads for school girls and women in low-income communities.
How it's done
We manufacture the Lucky Girl Pads, biodegradable sanitary towels made from virgin wood pulp and soft, non-woven fabric. Lucky Girl Pads are manufactured locally in Gulu and sterilized naturally via direct sun and UV light. It is distributed to girls in selected schools at a free cost and through a grassroots structure at a lower price than corporate competitors; they are more readily available and affordable to rural communities. Providing girls with affordable menstrual hygiene products empowers them to go to school all year round and gives them a better future.
The HPI leads to:
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Increased education regarding menstrual health.
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It has increased health and hygiene.
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It increased dignity and self-esteem.
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Increased livelihoods through production.
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Decreased costs associated with sanitary products.
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It increased school and work attendance.
When girls are educated, poverty drops, economies thrive, and communities become more resilient. But when a girl faces obstacles in healthily managing her menses, she is at risk for infection, her self-esteem and self-confidence suffer, she may remain absent from school during her period, or, worse still, drop out of school altogether upon reaching puberty. We target schoolgirls ages ten and above, mainly primary and secondary school students and rural women who do not have access. We provide them with a pack (8 pads in a box) of sanitary pads per month and give education sessions on women's health.
