Diatom Impact has donated about 10,000 NAFDAC-approved packs of reusable sanitary pads to girls in Lagos.
Valued at N15 million, the pads were distributed through the Sanitary Pad Media Campaign (SPMC) as part of a grand plan to alleviate period poverty especially among vulnerable schoolgirls in low income and poor communities.
Managing partner of Platform Capital, the parent company of Diatom Impact, Dolapo Ogunmekan, commended the SPMC for empowering less-privileged people on the continent with free sanitary pads in the last 12 months.
He noted that SPMC’s executive director, Anike-Ade Treasure, has a track record of sincerity and integrity, and pledged the company’s support to the project to enable her sustain it not only in Nigeria, but also on the African continent.
Convener of the Sanitary Pad Campaign, Funke Treasure, said the donation would go a long way in ensuring that disadvantaged girls in Nigeria and some parts of West Africa do not stay at home or miss classes during their menstrual cycle.
“Period poverty is a problem that girls and women in underserved communities and urban centres have grappled with for years. Girls still use socks, leaves, rags and pieces of cloth cut from wrappers to absorb the blood,” she said.
“A large number of them use bushes as change spaces during their periods because there are no toilets in schools. Otherwise they drop out of school and return after their periods. Some don’t make it back to school. The Sanitary Pad Media Advocacy Campaign is anchored on Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development goals which focuses on gender equality.
“It seeks to ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights, in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences.”
She thanked the CEO of Platform Capital, Akintoye Akindele, and the management of Diatom Impact for the donation.
