📍 Accra, Ghana – “No girl should miss school because of her period.”
That was the firm message from President John Dramani Mahama as he officially launched the National Sanitary Pad Distribution Program — a policy aimed squarely at dismantling one of the most overlooked obstacles to girl-child education in Ghana: period poverty.
📦 Ending the Silence, One Pad at a Time
Speaking during the launch event on Thursday in Accra, President Mahama acknowledged the quiet pain too many young girls endure every month — staying home from school because they simply can’t afford sanitary pads.
“They feared soiling themselves. They feared becoming the laughingstock of their peers,” Mahama said. “We cannot sit back while something as natural as menstruation robs our girls of their right to education.”
💰 Policy with Purpose — and a Price Tag
This isn’t just lip service. Mahama’s administration has earmarked GHC292.4 million in the 2025 budget to fully fund the program. That means free, government-provided sanitary pads for girls across basic and senior high schools nationwide.
And for many families, especially in underserved communities, this is more than a relief — it’s a lifeline.
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🧼 Hygiene. Dignity. Opportunity.
H.E John Mahama was clear: menstrual health isn’t just a private matter — it’s a public one. And providing these products is a national responsibility.
“The least we can do is support our girls to go through this with dignity and hygiene,” he said.
“This program exists to remove one of the silent yet powerful obstacles standing in the way of our girl-child dreams.”
By making this bold move, Mahama hopes to ignite change across not just schools, but the entire national consciousness. It’s a reminder that gender equity starts with listening, funding, and acting.
🌍 Why It Matters
This program ticks every box:
- Boosts school attendance for girls
- Fights stigma around menstruation
- Promotes menstrual health & hygiene
- Empowers families who can’t afford the basics
It’s about restoring hope, Mahama said — to the girls forced into silence, the parents struggling in secret, and the Ghanaian dream that education should be for everyone, not just the privileged.
✊🏽 The Bigger Picture
Ghana is joining a growing movement across Africa and beyond, where period poverty is finally being recognized as the public health and human rights issue it truly is.
This isn’t about charity — it’s about justice.
