The New Zealand government has come up with a unique measure of providing free sanitary products to schoolgirls across the country to tackle the situation of 'period poverty' -- where girls or women are unable to afford or access sufficient menstrual hygiene products.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in a statement said, nearly 95,000 girls in the country aged 9-18 are thought to stay home from school during their periods as they had not been able to afford pads or tampons.
"By making them freely available, we support these young people to continue learning at school," Ardern said.
Reportedly, to support this initiative, the New Zealand government is investing NZ$2.6 million ($1.7 million) which will be first rolled out at 15 schools in Waikato region of the country's North Island during the term of this year. The program will then expand nationwide to all state schools by 2021.
In developing countries, period poverty is often seen as a major predicament.
It has been exposed by numerous studies that period poverty impacts millions of people in the world's richest nations, including the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand.
A health and well-being survey from New Zealand-based Youth19 found 12% of students in Year 9 to 13 (ages 12 to 18) who menstruate reported difficulty accessing sanitary products due to affordability. And around one in 12 students reported having missed school due to lack of access to sanitary products.
"Menstruation is a fact of life for half the population and access to these products is a necessity, not a luxury," said New Zealand's Minister for Women, Julie Anne Genter.
According to Unicef and other aid organizations, unable to afford or access sanitary products or manage basic menstrual hygiene, girls across the world instead resort to using rags, old clothes, newspapers, hay, sand, or even ash.
"When you, through no fault of your own, don't have access to basic human needs, that impacts how you see yourself, it erodes your sense of worth, your sense of self, your sense of mana (essence or spiritual power in Maori)," Caro Atkinson, a counsellor at the He Huarahi Tamariki school in the New Zealand capital Wellington, said in a statement.
Ardern said that the initiative is part of a wider effort to reduce child poverty in the country.
"Our plan to halve child poverty in 10 years is making a difference but there is more to do and with families hit hard by the Covid-19 global pandemic, it's important to increase that support in the areas it can make an immediate difference," she said.
New Zealand is not alone. Last year, England announced it would provide free sanitary products to high school students, and in February, the Scottish parliament advanced legislation that aims to ensure free universal access to menstrual hygiene products through the Period Products (Free Provision), Scotland Bill.