RA528
Why Pakistan?
There are three brief reasons why we chose Pakistan.
First, about 1 in 4 women and girls are finding it harder to manage their period since the beginning of COVID-19.
Second, people in Pakistan tend to regard the period as shameful, which makes many girls have to miss school and have less knowledge about what the period is.
Third, many regions in Pakistan are facing a severe flood situation due to the recent monsoon rains. The floods have already consumed 350+ lives and destroyed about 7000 houses so far. In this situation, women have no access to safe menstrual products.
Problems that period poverty cause
There are three main problems caused by the lack of access to sanitary products: education, hygiene, and prejudice.
First, it violates the right to education. Female students who do not have enough sanitary products have to miss school for menstruation. As a result, it is difficult to maintain grades, and many students have to decide to drop out even though they want to continue their studies. Lack of education, especially in developing countries, is leading to a decline in employment opportunities for women.
Also, in order to reduce the financial burden, some women reduce the frequency of changing sanitary pads and substitute non-sanitary products such as toilet paper and tissues. Some women living in developing countries use grass and cloth instead, which is not very hygienic as it increases the risk of infection.
Menstrual poverty is not just economic poverty. In countries where menstruation has a fixed concept of "unclean"or "taboo", girls are isolated during menstruation, and they are bullied and teased about menstruation. Many girls in Pakistan and around the world are still ashamed to talk about their periods and have no medium to talk about it. On the other hand, boys tend to avoid talking about menstruation.
These problems are related to SDGs Goal 1 “No poverty” Goal 3 “Good health and well being”, Goal 4 “Quality education”, and Goal 5 “Gender equality". We believe that by tackling this period poverty, we can also get closer to achieving the goals of the SDGs.
Our team
RA528 is an international group with a passion for improving the welfare of women.
Member
Gauri Khanna
Hello! I'm Gauri, a 16 year old student and Learning Planet Youth Fellow from the UK. I am truly invested in women's reproductive health, particularly in developing countries where access to the necessary healthcare products can be limited. Therefore, I am really glad to be working with project leader Rio on this brilliant initiative to supply Japanese pads to girls in Pakistani schools.
Member
Yuka Uemura
Hi. I'm Yuka from Japan. I have been in the US for a year as a foreign exchange student as well. Currently, I'm a high school student in Japan. I want to reduce the number of girls who are suffering from period poverty, and hope everyone can have access to the high quality product in order to have safe and hygiene environment. Let's make some actions with us.
Members of crowdfunding
Ai Nakajima, Anju Kitao
Juri Maruyama, Reika Sugizaki
Mai Ozawa, Ilima Ishida
Nanami Muto, Yu Komiyama
MAKOMAKO
Partnership
