Project Description:

The HER PERIOD HER RIGHT Project seeks to build dignity and financial independence through reusable sanitary pad production training and comprehensive reproductive health education in Old Fadama, Ghana’s largest slum.
This project builds on Signals from the Grassroots past similar projects (Her Period Her Right Project in Kenya's Kakuma Refugee Camp, one of the world’s biggest refugee camp, which was a partnership with UNHCR) and (Keep Her In School with a Reusable Sanitary pad in Uganda’s 3 most rural districts).

Why the Projectis needed

According to research by the BBC, a woman earning Ghana’s minimum wage of just $26 per month must spend $3 — more than one in every seven dollars she earns — to purchase two packets of basic sanitary pads. This represents 13.2% of her total monthly income for a single, unavoidable need. Among nine countries studied, Ghana ranks as the most expensive place to be poor and menstruating. In a context where many families already struggle to afford food and other essentials, this cost forces many to resort to unsafe alternatives.
The crisis is even more severe in Old Fadama, home to an estimated 80,000 – 100,000 residents, nearly 90% of whom are between ages 12 and 44 — overwhelmingly menstruating age. Research by the Migrating out of Poverty shows women make up almost half of this population. Here, incomes fall far below the national minimum wage, and dignity is often sacrificed for survival. Many girls and women manage their periods using rags, paper, old cloth, or grass because pads are unaffordable. These unsafe practices expose them to infections and stigma. With limited access to education and reproductive health information, many girls report they did not understand menstruation when they experienced their first period. In Old Fadama, period poverty is a compounded vulnerability of economic hardship intertwined with lack of knowledge that undermines health, confidence, and opportunity.
To confront this injustice, Signals from the Grassroots will implement a twopronged, systems changing intervention. First, we will equip at least 2,000 girls and women with skills and tools to produce reusable sanitary pads, targeting the production of over 5,000 high-quality pads within one month. By providing sewing machines and essential materials — fabrics, absorbent cotton, threads, fasteners, and sewing kits — we transform beneficiaries into producers. Through a train the-trainer model, participants will teach peers, creating a ripple effect beyond the initial cohort. The pads will serve their personal needs, while surplus products can be sold to generate income, directly addressing both menstrual and financial poverty.
Second, we will deliver comprehensive sexual and reproductive health education to ensure knowledge rises alongside access. Participants will learn about menstruation, hygiene management, reproductive rights, and infection prevention, breaking cycles of silence and misinformation. We will partner with Junior Achievement Ghana to provide financial literacy and entrepreneurship training to the participants on how to capitalize on the acquired pad making skills to generate income for themseslves. We will also partner with Street Children Empowerment Foundation, a local NGO based within the slum to anchor the project into community ownership and sustainability by stationing the sewing machines there for easy access. Sewing machines and materials will remain in the settlement as permanent assets. Implementation is scheduled for August/September 2026, following mobilization and procurement, with monitoring and evaluation conducted from September to December to measure impact.

Implementation:

We will employ the same 2-pronged approach used in the Kenya Edition which includes;

1. 1. Training and Production of Reusable Pads
1. Sewing Machines: Supply 50 sewing machines for reusable pad production and training
2. Training Pioneers: Train 10 women and girls in each zone as pioneers. These trainees will, in turn, mentor others, ensuring the skills spread across the community.
3. Production Materials: Provide essential materials such as fabrics, cotton sheets, threads, buttons, and sewing tools to produce 5,000 reusable pads during the project’s initial phase.
2. 2. Menstrual Awareness and Financial Literacy Training
1. Conduct awareness sessions aimed at dismantling menstrual stigma, engaging both men and women to create a supportive environment for girls and women.
2. Junior Achievement Ghana, capitalizing on its experience, will deliver financial literacy and entrepreneurship training that will enable participants leverage the sewing and reusable sanitary making skills acquired to generate sustainable income for themselves.

Anticipated Results:

1. Production of 5,000 Reusable Pads: Addressing the menstrual needs of vulnerable women and girls in Old Fadama slum.
2. Skill Development: Equip atleast 2000 women and girls with tailoring skills that they can use to produce pads or other goods, fostering financial independence.
3. Sustainability: By collaborating with Street Children Empowerment Foundation, we ensure the ongoing production of pads and optimal use of sewing machines and resources.
4. Breaking the Stigma: Foster an inclusive and supportive environment through targeted community awareness programs.

Support this project:

You can support this project in 3 ways;

1. Buy Yourself a Project Shirt below
2. Make a Donation below
3. Watch our Youtube videos.

We invite donors, partners, and advocates to join us in this impactful initiative to transform lives through sustainable solutions. Together, we can ensure that no woman or girl in Kakuma has to suffer due to a lack of menstrual hygiene products or face the stigma surrounding menstruation.

Project Summary:

The "Her Period Her Right - Kenya Edition" project tackled the critical issue of period poverty in one of the world’s biggest refugee camp, Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee Camp, where approximately 85,000 women and girls of menstruating age lack access to basic menstrual hygiene products. This shortage negatively impacts their health, education, and overall quality of life, as highlighted by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI). Many girls miss school, women are unable to work during their periods, and menstrual stigma continues to hinder progress within the community.
This project aimed to build dignity and financial independence for female refugees through reusable sanitary pads making training. Unlike traditional donation models, this initiative focused on empowering women and girls by equipping them with the skills and resources to produce reusable sanitary pads, fostering self-reliance and sustainable change.

Project Description

Her Period Her Right - Kenya Edition was a youth-led initiative by Signals from the Grassroots designed to address period poverty, menstrual stigma, loss of dignity, and economic exclusion among women and girls during their period, in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya.
With over 85,000 women and girls of menstruating age having limited access to menstrual hygiene products, and with strong stigma around menstruation among men, women and girls are excluded from participating fully in daily life and community activities by this natural phenomenon.
This project provides practical skills, awareness, and resources to empower women and girls, equipping them to manage their menstrual health with dignity while creating opportunities for financial independence through reusable pad production.
The project’s approach is anchored in four key pillars:

1. 1. Skills Training and Capacity Building: Women are trained in tailoring reusable sanitary pads, equipping them with income-generating skills they can use long after the project ends. Each trained woman becomes a trainer, extending the knowledge to others.
2. 2. Menstrual Health Education: Open sessions with men and women normalize conversations about menstruation, break harmful taboos, and encourage a supportive environment for women in all four units of the camp.
3. 3. Production and Sustainability: Sewing machines and materials are left with local partners, The Discover and Most of Us, who continue producing reusable pads, ensuring long-term sustainability and ongoing empowerment.
4. 4. Community Engagement and Stigma Reduction: The project engages both men and women in discussions about menstrual health, aiming to break stigma and foster inclusive community support, reducing discrimination and vulnerabilities associated with period poverty.

4.Impact(Key Statistics)

1. 1. 8000+ women and girls, boys and men directly and indirectly impacted at the close of the project.
2. 2. 100+ women, girls and men trained in tailoring reusable sanitary pads across all 4 units of Kakuma Refugee Camp - the world's largest refugee camp. These women have become trainers, passing their skills on to others.
3. 3. 1,200 reusable pads sewn, (300 per unit).
4. 4. 6 sewing machines donated and fabric materials needed to make 1,200 reusable pads.
5. 5. 600+ men and women engaged in open conversations to break menstrual stigma and encourage a supportive environment for women during their period.

Project Summary:

This project aimed at addressing the alarming reality of 5 million girls dropping out of school in Uganda, and the staunch stigma surrounding menstruation in Uganda's rural areas.
The four-pronged approach involved:-

1. Menstrual Education: Sessions with both boys and girls combined were conducted to normalize conversations about menstruation and break the stigma surrounding it.
2. Breaking the Stigma: Separate sessions for boys focused on teaching them how to be supportive of their female peers during menstruation were conducted, helping to eliminate bullying and promote understanding.
3. Hygiene Training: Girls were educated on the proper use and care of reusable sanitary pads to prevent infections and ensure their health and safety.
4. Distribution: Giving sanitary pads and soaps to the girls.

Impact:

1. SftG distributed 2,000 pads and 2,000 antibacterial soaps to 1,000 schoolgirls in 8 schools across three of Uganda's most rural districts: Mayuge, Kiboga, and Rakai. Each girl received 2 pads and 2 Dettol soaps, allowing them to attend school consistently for over two years without menstrual concerns.
2. Educated boys to view menstruation as a natural process, breaking the stigma that has caused many girls to drop out of school due to fear and shame. This initiative created a conducive and safe environment for open discussions about menstruation.
3. 50 youth volunteers participated in awareness sessions, teaching girls how to use the sanitary pads safely and distributing pads and soap. This involvement allowed the youth to engage meaningfully in solving societal issues.

Background

Dialogue is the very heart of shaping our society. It is the starting point for many meaningful, sustainable and beneficial collaborations that bring greater growth and development in the quest for positive change.
However, despite youth having the will, passion and capability to make change, many of them lack the skill of holding an effective dialogue – something that is holding them back from transforming their passions into meaningful action.
This is a big threat in the struggle to ensure more youth engagement in decision-making processes.
This project aimed to primarily address this incompetence by building a culture of dialogue among young people.

Project Summary:

"Dialogue for the Future," was a 12-month long project of the year 2023 running from January to december. It was held on every second last Satuarday of the month.
This project aimed at equipping youth with formidable dialoging skills and knowledge so as to meaningfully take part in society defining meetings and discussions. It further aimed at deepening youths' understanding of dialogue as a critical aspect of constructive engagement and action by providing them a safe platform where they can share their experiences, knowledge and shed light on their projects.

Implementation:

Our dialogues were never events, but continuous processes in which youth got inspiration, motivation and knowledge to develop themselves and keep driving their actions of change. In these dialogues, young people interacted through speaking and listening to one another to understand the issues and challenges that they face, and together formulated ways of solving them.
We created channels—both online and in person—for young people to drive conversations. We used zoom and social media platforms like facebook and Instagram to work directly with young people to elevate their stories.
Every month, we held atleast one dialogue for each SDG. This means that for a month with three SDGs, the least number of dialogues was three. We arranged these SDGs in such a way that next moth's dialogue connected to the one before as shown below

Month	Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
January	GOAL 5: Gender Equality & GOAL 10: Reduced Inequality
February	GOAL 3: Good Health and Well-being
March	GOAL 1: No Poverty
April	GOAL 13: Climate Action
May	GOAL 2: Zero Hunger & GOAL 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
June	GOAL 4: Quality Education & GOAL 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
July	GOAL 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure & GOAL 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
August	GOAL 16: Peace and Justice Strong Institutions
September	GOAL 15: Life on Land
October	GOAL 14: Life Below Water
November	GOAL 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
December	GOAL 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities & GOAL 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goals

Impact

'Dialogue For The Future' stimulated more than 90% of our 5,000 members to take on actions at an individual stage by establishing their own initiatives to solve the most pressing problems in their communities. They have further embarked on volunteering and internships to actively engage in bettering their communities. This highlights the tangible shifts in behaviors that SftG is facilitating among young people.