Period poverty: Ministry demands pad banks in Nigerian schools

By Chioma Obinna

The Federal Ministry of Women Affairs & Social Development, on Thursday called for the establishment of sanitary pad banks in schools across Nigeria to prevent girls from missing classes and examinations because of menstruation.

Deputy Director, Child Development Department at the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs & Social Development, Mrs Mariam Shaibu, made the call at the Nigeria Menstrual Health Product Forum 2026 in Lagos themed: “Driving Standards and Policy Reform for Affordable Menstrual Products,” where stakeholders also demanded urgent reforms to make menstrual products safe, standardised and affordable.
The Menstrual Health Forum, is funded by the Sanitation and Hygiene Fund (SHF) and led by UNFPA in collaboration with the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development in partnership with relevant government and non-government stakeholders.
Shaibu said the rising cost of menstrual products, inadequate water and sanitation facilities and limited access to quality products were deepening period poverty among women and girls.
“We are calling on governments, CSOs, donors, philanthropists and foundations to come and support our girls.”
According to her, a pad bank would provide girls, especially those from families unable to afford them, with emergency access to sanitary products when they begin menstruating at school without adequate supplies.
She said the initiative could be sustained through government social-protection programmes, Parent-Teacher Associations, foundations, individual donors and philanthropists.
“If I have a daughter and I know that that girl is menstruating, no matter how difficult for me, I can put on like two or three pads. But in case that one will not be able to sustain her, instead of her going back to the classroom to go and lie down and be crying in the school clinic, there should be something that she can make donations with,” Shaibu said.
She said some schools and non-governmental organisations had already begun establishing pad banks, urging more stakeholders to adopt schools and provide regular supplies.
The deputy director, Child Development Department at the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs & Social Development,
however, stressed that distributing pads alone would not solve the problem.
She said schools must also have adequate water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, as well as safe systems for disposing of used menstrual products.
“If we flood schools with pads, how are they going to dispose of them if we don’t bring the environment to make sure that there’s an incinerator or the right disposal methods?” she asked.
The representative of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, stated that Nigeria’s National Policy on Menstrual Health and Hygiene Management had undergone consultations across the six geopolitical zones and been validated, with moves underway for Federal Executive Council approval and subsequent adoption by states.
UNFPA Gender/GBV Management Specialist, Dr Zubaida Abubakar, said menstrual health must go beyond simply distributing pads.
“Improving menstrual health was not only about providing menstrual products, but also about ensuring that women and girls had access to accurate information, adequate water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, and an environment where they could manage menstruation safely and with dignity.”
According to Abubakar, the UNFPA is also working with stakeholders to examine taxes, duties and levies affecting menstrual-product manufacturers and importers, with the aim of advocating reforms that could reduce production costs and improve affordability.
The World Bank estimates that about 24 per cent of Nigerian schoolgirls regularly miss school because of a lack of menstrual materials and inadequate WASH infrastructure, while UNICEF estimates that about 37 million women and girls in Nigeria experience period poverty.
Also, speaking, the Director-General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Dr. Ifeanyi Chukwunonso Okeke who was represented by Mrs Talatu Ethan, SON’s director Corporate Affairs, said menstrual products must be both safe and affordable.
“Quality and affordability must not be treated as competing objectives,” he said.