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, where 70% of girls cite menstruation as an obstacle to their education, 28% of girls in Uganda miss school 3-4 days every month, and 59% are forced to mariege before the age of 18 years. 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.
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Our Solution
We produce and distribute the Lucky Girl Pads, which are low-cost, eco-friendly, high-quality disposable pads made from virgin wood pulp and soft, non-woven fabric and packed in paper which are biodegradable. 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.
Our Impact
280,000
girls and boys reached with menstrual health education massage.
4.2
million disposable sanitary pads produced and distributed.
24
Schools enrolled and partering with HPI
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.
