The unseen struggle: menstrual poverty’s grip on the Nigerian girlchild

In a nation striving for progress, a silent disaster continues to erode the potential of hundreds of thousands of its younger girls: menstrual poverty.

This multifaceted problem, encompassing lack of entry to sanitary merchandise, insufficient hygiene amenities, and pervasive societal stigma, forces numerous Nigerian girls to miss school, endure well being issues, and endure profound indignity.

On Monday, June 30, 2025, a big step was taken in Abuja as Linked Growth (CODE) and HumanX formally launched a nationwide advocacy marketing campaign aimed toward dismantling these boundaries and fostering a “Interval-Pleasant World.”

The Heavy Value of a Pure Cycle

The statistics paint a grim image. In response to Hamzat Lawal, CEO of Linked Growth, a number one African civil society organisation, over 30 million girls in Nigeria lack access to menstrual hygiene products.

Globally, a staggering 1.5 billion folks face related challenges. This severe scarcity directly impacts their education, with women typically dropping “5 to seven energetic days of training” every month when on their interval, as highlighted by Lawal. “That is unacceptable,” he asserted in the course of the press convention.

The implications of menstrual poverty lengthen far past missed college days. Dr. Nkiru Ezeama, a public well being doctor, famous in a June 2023 report by the Information Company of Nigeria (NAN) that “about 44 per cent of girls and women in Nigeria are experiencing interval poverty as they can’t afford N500 sanitary pads.” 

This financial pressure forces many to resort to unhygienic options like rags, paper, or outdated garments, considerably rising their threat of reproductive and urinary tract infections. 

As Gbemi Elekula, founding father of HumanX, passionately defined on the launch, “We have heard the gory tales. A few of them will inform you that individuals have come to go to them of their communities and given them disposable pads… We have now girls who use them, wash them, and use them till they develop into worn out. It is gory.” 

This determined improvisation not solely jeopardises their well being but additionally entrenches emotions of disgrace and embarrassment, additional isolating them.

Bridging the Hole: Dignity in Each Pad

The affect on training is especially alarming. A 2023 report by UNICEF discovered that 23% of adolescent women in Nigeria had missed college attributable to menstruation.

Moreover, a 2016 UNESCO report cited by “A Pad For Her” initiatives revealed that “1 out of each 10 women in Africa misses college” attributable to interval poverty. This interprets to vital tutorial setbacks, diminished confidence, and even elevated vulnerability to early little one marriage and being pregnant.”

“Each woman ought to be capable of attend class, regardless of if she’s on her interval or it is a regular menstrual cycle day,” Elekula emphasised.

The partnership between CODE and HumanX gives a beacon of hope, specializing in a sustainable and dignified answer: reusable pads. HumanX, a vogue firm based with the specific function of tackling interval poverty, designs and produces garments, using proceeds to create these “dignity pads.” Created from cotton materials with absorbent layers, these pads can be utilized for “so long as three to 4 years, relying on how she maintains it,” Elekula demonstrated. 

This contrasts sharply with disposable pads, which, whereas providing quick reduction, don’t present a long-term answer for these in distant and underserved communities.

“In case you give me a disposable pad at present, the place do I get the one for July? The place do I get the one for August? You are still leaving me on the weak stage,” Elekula identified.

A Collective Name for Interval Fairness

The cost-effectiveness of reusable pads is an important issue within the Nigerian context, the place a pack of disposable sanitary pads might vary from N3,000 to N8,000, in keeping with Elekula. This can be a prohibitive expense for households residing on lower than a greenback a day. The reusable pads, in distinction, provide a one-time funding that alleviates the month-to-month monetary burden.

Past product distribution, the marketing campaign emphasizes well being training and breaking the deeply ingrained stigma surrounding menstruation. 

“We have to break the silence; menstruation shouldn’t be seen as a taboo subject,” acknowledged Mrs Aderonke Akinola-Akinwole, a UNICEF Social Behavioral Specialist, as reported by NAN in Might 2025. 

Hamzat Lawal echoed this sentiment, asserting the necessity to “make sure that males can really be a part of this struggle to finish interval poverty.” 

The initiative additionally goals to have interaction group leaders and conventional establishments, fostering a supportive surroundings the place women can handle their menstruation with confidence and dignity.

This collaboration between CODE and HumanX will not be merely about offering merchandise; it is about empowerment, training, and advocating for systemic change. 

“This MOU we’re about to signal isn’t just a paperwork. It is about function,” Lawal declared.

Their efforts purpose to scale back the variety of out-of-school children, enhance women’ well being outcomes, and finally, make sure that menstruation is now not a barrier to a woman’s freedom to pursue training and dwell a complete, uninhibited life. 

As Elekula passionately concluded, “Menstruation is a traditional physique perform. Such as you sleep, eat, and go to the bathroom. It is regular. Nobody deserves to endure for that.”