By THE INDEPENDENT UG
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Justine Lumumba Kasule, the Minister in charge of General Duties in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), has issued an apology to the nation for the government’s failure to provide free sanitary pads to girls across the country.
Free sanitary pads were a presidential pledge outlined in the 2016–2021 Manifesto of the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) government to address school dropout rates, promote dignity, menstrual hygiene, and the well-being of adolescent girls in primary and secondary schools.
The pledge was anticipated to be implemented in the Financial Year 2017/2018. However, to date, the initiative remains only on paper, eight years since President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni made the announcement.
Lumumba acknowledges that the failure is a collective responsibility, implicating all the women who make up 43 percent of Museveni’s cabinet. She argues that the government should refocus its efforts on interventions such as providing free condoms in public toilets to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS and prioritize the needs of vulnerable girl children.
The former Secretary-General of NRM made these remarks on Sunday at the Sheraton Hotel in Kampala during the closing ceremony of the third exhibition titled “Because of Her”. This annual week-long event, held every March since 2020, commemorates International Women’s Day to celebrate women achievers and advocate for gender equality in Uganda.
Patience Poni Ayikoru, an Advocate for Governance and Gender Justice and founder of ‘Femme Talk West Nile’, a volunteer-based organization in Koboko District, mentioned they have established a pads booth in the region to offer free napkins while awaiting government action.
Keisha Patience, who co-founded Because of Her with her twin sister Portia Owera, stated that their mandate has expanded to include creating pad booths in the Kigezi region and providing training to women and girls to equip them with the skills needed to make their own reusable and non-reusable napkins, addressing period poverty among girls.
Speaking at the same event, Catherine Kyokunda Donovan, the Commissioner of Legal Services and Border Affairs at Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), emphasized the unquestionable need for sanitary pads, stating that the government must address this issue expeditiously to empower and inspire girls and women.
Nevertheless, activists challenged the government, which boasts of women empowerment initiatives, citing the presence of 43 percent of women in Cabinet, 46 percent in local government positions, and 33 percent in Parliament, urging them to match rhetoric with action and invest in girls to build a sustainable and prosperous society.
In April 2020, First Lady Janet Kataha Museveni, the Minister of Education and Sports, revealed that the government was planning to establish a factory to manufacture sanitary pads for free distribution to all girls across the country. However, this plan is yet to materialize.
In Uganda, the rate of school dropout among girls compared to their male counterparts remains higher due to a lack of supportive infrastructure, including clean lavatories, changing rooms, water for washing, and hygienic sanitary ware for effective menstrual cycle management.
Studies have shown that one in ten menstruating girls skips four to ten days in a month or completely drops out. On average, a menstruating girl loses 13 learning days, equivalent to two weeks of learning, and 104 hours of school every school term. It is also estimated that around 23 percent of adolescent girls aged 12 to 18 drop out of school after beginning menstruation.
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