ZAMBIA last Saturday joined the rest of the world in commemorating Menstrual Hygiene Day which falls on May 28 every year.
The occasion coincided with the International Day of Action for Women’s Health 2022.
Menstrual Hygiene Day highlights the importance of menstrual care and raises awareness about the social issues faced by women during menstruation and those who don’t have access to sanitary products.
This year’s global theme, ‘Making Menstruation A Normal Fact of Life by 2030’, aimed to contribute in achieving an overarching goal, to build a world by 2030 where no one is held back because they menstruate.
The theme focused on breaking taboos and ending stigma surrounding menstruation.
It raised awareness about challenges regarding access to menstrual products, provided education about menstruation and period-friendly sanitation facilities, and mobilised funding required for action at scale.
Period poverty is real in Zambia as the country still faces challenges in ensuring easy access to sanitary products especially for the rural girls.
Currently, over 500 million people worldwide are affected, and every day, 800 people around the world have their period with an average woman spending 3,000 days menstruating during her lifetime.
Government has shown its commitment to uplifting the lives of girls in realising their full potential, as highlighted in the 2022 National Budget which has provided for free distribution for sanitary pads in schools.
Information and Media Minister Chushi Kasanda has since called on parents to alert the children on topical issues such as menstrual hygiene, and sexual health in an effort to arrest the scourge of teenage pregnancies and early marriages.
“Just after forming Government, we made sure that the distribution of free sanitary pads is done in order to keep girls in school,” she said.
Media personality and politician Patience Chisanga-Mayer called for concerted efforts from all stakeholders in the country to make investments in menstrual hygiene a priority.
“I know that in the 2016/2017 budgets, we did have a specific allocation towards menstrual hygiene management but the implementation was poorly done,” Ms Mayer said.
She is hopeful that the ruling United Party for National Development (UPND) can channel resources to ensuring that menstrual management

items are freely distributed to each and every woman in the country.
To commemorate the Menstrual Hygiene Day, a number of activities were lined up in Zambia.
ActionAid Zambia, in partnership with iSanitize, on Friday held engagement meetings at Chitentabunga and Kapete primary schools in Chongwe district where it urged communities to break the taboos and end stigma surrounding menstruation.
“As an institution, we continue to raise awareness on the challenges regarding access to menstrual products and educate young girls about menstruation through our sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) programmes and initiatives,” ActionAid said in a statement.
Copper Rose Zambia, a Non-Governmental Organisation that is helping to address menstrual hygiene issues at policy level, was at Moomba Secondary School in Chibombo district where emphasis was laid on the need to make menstruation a normal fact of life in line with the theme.
Meanwhile, in the build up to the Menstrual Hygiene Day, various voices and actions of non-profit, Government agencies, and individuals came together at the Lusaka Museum for the Period Festival organized by Whisper a Dream Foundation.
The festival was graced by the Information and Media minister.
Various menstrual hygiene products were showcased at the exhibitions by both girls and boys from schools around Lusaka.
During the event, former Cheembe Member of Parliament (MP) Sebastian Kopulanda donated 5,000 sanitary pads to Whisper a Dream Foundation for distribution to rural schools.
In 2019, Mr Kopulande moved a private member’s motion to urge the government to provide free sanitary towels in public schools, which Parliament approved.
“I commended the UPND Government for having commenced the implementation of the Motion on sanitary pads that I moved in Parliament on 2nd October 2019, which was unanimously adopted but never got to implementation under the PF Government,” He said.
The former MP implored the Government to implement other parts of the motion covering removal of customs duty and VAT on sanitary products, provision of appropriate sanitation facilities in schools and provision of tax incentives for investment in the production of sanitary products.
He thanked Whisper a Dream Foundation chief Annie Kalaluka for establishing the organisising the festival.
Menstruation is intrinsically related to human dignity and when people cannot access safe bathing facilities and safe and effective means of managing their menstrual hygiene, they are not able to manage their menstruation with dignity.
Therefore, Zambia needs an environment where access to menstrual hygiene products is seen in the context of human

rights and that every girl or women is empowered to manage her menstruation safely, hygienically, with confidence and without shame.
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