The First Lady, Mama Rachel Ruto, on Thursday, February 9, set in motion the production of sanitary towels for girls and women after she launched Sifa Pad & Praise Project.
Through the project, innovators and philanthropists seek to produce high-quality but affordable sanitary pads that will strategically be distributed to the most vulnerable girls and women in Kenya.
An initiative of the Kenya Assemblies of God Church and WorldServe International Kenya, Sifa Pad & Praise Project is an intervention to curb what is popularly addressed as 'period poverty.'
"The sanitary pads are 100 per cent biodegradable and friendly to the environment. Further, 20,000 girls will be empowered with information and life skills that will help them navigate the future," Mama Rachel noted.
In partnership with Hands of Hope and Joyce Meyer Ministry World Missions, the sanitary pad factory can produce 200 sanitary pads per minute.
"Many girls use insufficient and unhygienic methods during menstruation, which puts them at risk of infections.
"For some of them, desperation during this season drives them to get involved in illicit activities to earn money that will enable them to buy sanitary pads," Mama Rachel decried.
The First Lady noted that Sifa Pad Project gives girls and women an opportunity to live their lives with the dignity they deserve.
According to the findings by Procter & Gamble and Heart Education, some 42 per cent of Kenyan school girls have never used sanitary pads.
Needy girls are forced to use rags, blankets, mattress pieces, tissue paper and cotton wool instead of the costly sanitary pads.
At the same time, Procter & Gamble and Heart Education found that 65 per cent of females in Kenya cannot afford sanitary pads.
To make it worse, some one million school-age girls miss an average of four school days per month to avoid the shame of the lack of proper sanitary pads.
First Lady Mama Rachel Ruto has been at the forefront of championing women's empowerment in the country through a number of developmental projects.
On Thursday, January 26, 2023, Mama Rachel launched the Leveraging Equality for Gender Inclusive Economic Development (Legend) Project.
Leveraging Equality for Gender Inclusive Economic Development (Legend) Project seeks to unlock access to finance by youth and women-led enterprises in the poultry, horticulture and aquaculture value chains.
