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Washing Away Poverty

The Ugandan Sanitary Pad Factory Keeping Girls in School

A factory in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, is helping keep girls in school by producing cheap, reusable sanitary pads. By teaming up with NGOs, they’ve been able to distribute them to thousands of girls.

Written by Michele Sibiloni Published on Read time Approx. 1 minutes

KAMPALA, Uganda – According to UNESCO, one in ten girls across Sub-Saharan Africa miss school when on their period. This is having a huge impact on their education as some girls miss dozens of days a year. Cost is the biggest reason as school girls are often unable to afford sanitary pads.

But a company in Kampala is changing that. AFRIpads produces cheap, reusable pads in a small factory which employs over 100 women. Set up in 2009, they’ve produced over 2.5 million pads and have teamed up with several NGOs to distribute them across the country. The impact has been huge, with thousands of girls no longer missing school when the menstruate.

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