First Lady Jeannette Kagame has pledged to donate 100 packs of sanitary pads every month for a period of one year, in a major boost to a local initiative aimed at ending period poverty.
The initiative, running under a social media campaign hashtag #IMatter, seeks to ensure girls do not miss class due to stigma associated with not being able to afford sanitary pads.
The First Lady’s pledge was prompted by daughter, Ange Kagame’s challenge after she donated 80 packs of sanitary pads towards the campaign.
After the First Lady announced her donation, she challenged Imbuto Foundation, for which she is chairperson and Unity Club Intwararumuri, a forum of current and former cabinet members and their spouses, to join the challenge.
Subsequently, Imbuto Foundation donated 500 packs while Unity Club Intwararumuri pledged to donate 500 packs every month in one year.
The challenge also looped in more people, including Rose Rwubuhihi, the Chief Gender Monitor, who pledged 100 packs, and former Minister for Health Dr Agnes Binagwaho, who donated 500 more packets.
"I Matter” initiative aims to end period poverty and stigma through service, awareness and community in schools to advance the girl child education and self-esteem among adolescent girls.
The initiative started in August 2019.
Major boost
Isabelle Mbabazi, the co-founder of the campaign, welcomed the contribution of the First Lady.
"We did not expect it and are happy and optimistic that the campaign will get further. We appreciate everyone involved in this campaign to end period poverty,” she says.
The initiative has collected over 1,000 packs of sanitary pads since January 20 with many more still in pledges.
Around 60 people had pledged to donate by press time.
Mbabazi added that they are planning to start distribution in February.
Beneficiaries are schoolgirls and, so far, the initiative has already helped 150 girls to get 600 packs of sanitary pads.
Their recent donations took place at St Vincent and St Marie schools.
Asked why the campaign was important, Mbabazi answered in an email that: "Over 18 per cent of girls in Rwanda miss, on average, three to five days of school because they cannot access menstrual products.
"Since there is stigma attached to talking about period poverty, getting exact numbers is not easy but the problem is bigger than we think. It is pretty obvious that people who cannot afford basic necessities can’t even imagine buying period products,” she said.
"We can provide girls with sanitary pads or other methods that are easier to use for them to have a comfortable upbringing in their education,” she added.
In a related development, #FreeThePeriod, another anti-period poverty campaign, recently saw 500 packets of sanitary pads donated to school girls with pledges running into thousands.
Both campaigns are mainly running on social media application Twitter.
Early December, Rwanda scrapped VAT tax on sanitary pads as part of ongoing efforts to make them more affordable.
Speaking to The New Times, Julian Kayibanda, a menstrual health activist, said that beyond the donations, the social media campaign is doing a good job of raising awareness to the issue.
"The collection of pads might not be a sustainable solution but it’s meeting girls needs in a certain period of time; and it’s sending a message to our less privileged girls that Rwandans know their plight and that they care,” she said.
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