UK government is campaigning to end global period poverty by 2030
The UK government has announced a new campaign in a bid to end global period poverty by 2030.
In the UK, one in 10 girls are unable to afford sanitary products, according to Plan International UK. And 12 percent of girls have had to improvise sanitary products because they couldn't afford to buy them.
The government announced on Monday that the government would be spearheading a campaign to tackle period poverty on a global scale.
In an official statement, the Government Equalities Office stated that in developing countries it's estimated that "half of all women and girls are forced to use rages, grass, and paper to manage their periods." A lack of access to products can result in girls missing school, which can have a long-term impact on their education. UNESCO estimates that one in ten adolescent girls in Africa miss school when they have their period, and eventually they drop out.
The government has pledged £2 million in UK aid support, which will be used to assist organisations which are already working to eradicate global period poverty.
"Girls should be able to focus on their education and their future without being worried about or embarrassed by their periods."
The campaign will also see the creation of a new "advisory taskforce" of government departments, including the Department of Health, Department for Education, and Department for Work and Pensions. The taskforce will also work with retailers, social enterprises, charities, and manufacturers to get "funding and expertise" to work on a "sustainable solution" for period poverty in the UK. It will also work with women's rights organisation AmplifyChange, which runs 54 projects across 27 countries to help girls to manage their periods with dignity.
The government's Minister for Women and Equalities Penny Mordaunt said in a speech that "girls should be able to focus on their education and their future without being worried about or embarrassed by their periods."
"This is a global issue. Without education, women and girls around the world won’t be able to take the steps to reach their true potential," Mordaunt continued.
Topics Activism Health Social Good
Rachel Thompson is the Features Editor at Mashable. Rachel's second non-fiction book The Love Fix: Reclaiming Intimacy in a Disconnected World is out now, published by Penguin Random House in Jan. 2025. The Love Fix explores why dating feels so hard right now, why we experience difficult emotions in the realm of love, and how we can change our dating culture for the better.
A leading sex and dating writer in the UK, Rachel has written for GQ, The Guardian, The Sunday Times Style, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, Stylist, ELLE, The i Paper, Refinery29, and many more.
Rachel's first book Rough: How Violence Has Found Its Way Into the Bedroom And What We Can Do About It, a non-fiction investigation into sexual violence was published by Penguin Random House in 2021.
