Overview

In Ghana menstrual pads are seen as a luxury - incurring a 20% import tax, and 90% of the average sanitary pad being made of plastic. This creates an expensive product which is inaccessible to many Ghanaian women and is harmful for the environment. Our approach... is to create a project which empowers women in the area of Accra in Ghana. We will employ Ghanaian women to manufacture and sell reusable menstrual pads to local schools, charities and NGOs. This creates a sustainable and eco-friendly product. The materials used to create these pads will be locally acquired, absorbent and leak-proof. Whilst addressing issues relating to the sale of sanitary pads, our project helps provide women with a toolkit to be entrepreneurs and self-sufficient. The final branch of our project will be the development of an educational programme which will be delivered in the form of workshops. These aim to tackle and ultimately defeat the stigma surrounding menstruation. The result of this education programme alongside our reusable sanitary pads will offer practical solutions to to the problems Ghanaian women and girls face in their everyday lives. Whilst, preventing young girls missing out on their valuable education because of a lack of menstrual hygiene products and embarrassment regarding their periods. Ultimately, we seek to empower a community, so together we can break the barriers and inequalities in menstrual hygiene and normalise such a natural part of life.