The cost of pads over the past few years has more than tripled due to taxes – leaving most Ghanaian girls and women unable to afford pads, as they are barely keeping up with rising inflation in the economy. There have been reported cases of girls having to skip school in the week of their periods due to lack of menstrual products, This could potentially have a huge impact on the education of these girls, as well as the livelihood of women.
Khadija Cares Foundation plays a critical role in providing environmentally friendly menstrual products to women in Ghana.
Khadija, Founder
UNICEF reported that 9 out of 10 girls in Ghana miss school due to lack of menstrual products.
Additionally, pads and other disposable menstrual products contribute heavily to earth pollution. According to Global Citizen, in a lifetime, a single person who menstruates will use somewhere between 5000 – 15,000 pads and tampons and is also expected to throw away roughly 400 pounds of period product packaging.
These plastic and non-compostable materials in period products can take 500 – 800 years to decompose. Period products all have their pros and cons and no one product is perfect, but some are less damaging than others. To reduce our carbon footprint on Earth, I believe it is important to encourage girls and women to make the switch to greener options like menstrual cups, reusable pads, period discs, tampons, period panties, etc. Not only are these alternatives greener but some of them are also cheaper.
It takes 500 – 800 years for disposable menstrual products to decompose.
What remains clear is that there is still much work to be done in the fight for equity and justice, both in the halls of power and on the front lines of change in our communities to combat fear and oppression and to advance protections for women and girls.
I vow to work to get these sustainable resources to women across the country, demanding a community where girls and women have access to sanitary and sustainable menstrual products.
Yours faithfully,
Khadija,
Khadija Cares Foundation,
Founder
