Despite the progress we have seen in recent years regarding the fight for women’s rights around the world, there are regions in Central America that continue to face problems that affect the social, economic and health environment for girls. adolescents and women, especially those who live in marginalized or low-income areas.
Period poverty refers to both the lack of access to sanitary products and hygiene education during the period, as well as the lack of toilets, handwashing facilities and decent waste management.
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Access to menstrual products
Every day, it is estimated that a total of 500 million women lack access to menstrual products and adequate facilities for menstrual hygiene management, reports a World Bank study (1). According to UNICEF data (2), 95 % of adolescent girls feel uncomfortable attending school during their period, which is reflected in school absenteeism, since 1 in 10 girls in Central America misses classes because they do not have sanitary pads or bathrooms in their schools .
In Costa Rica alone, according to INEC data (3), lower-income women are the most constantly excluded from daily activities due to improper management of their menstrual flow. On the other hand, in El Salvador, according to the EHPM (4), in 2022, 26.7% of households did not have sufficient income to cover the cost of the Basic Food Basket (CBA).
This scenario leaves girls and women who belong to this sector without the possibility of accessing menstrual hygiene products, since they have to choose between food or towels.
Guatemala
In the case of Guatemala, the last census carried out by the INE (5) in 2018 revealed that only 55.5% of households in the country had a toilet at home, so the other half of the population only had a latrine or pit. septic and 4.8% had no sanitary service.
In addition, it was reported that water coverage for sanitation is 63% throughout the country. These data reflect that there is a population in poverty that cannot access these services, including girls and women who, not having water or a toilet at home, are unable to manage their menstruation correctly.
Before this panorama, Always In recent years, it has carried out various initiatives in Central America and the Caribbean, which seek to make visible the importance of combating menstrual poverty and promoting education about this problem.
Such is the case of Menstru-Móvil, a van that was recently installed in some cities such as Panama, Port of Spain and Kingston, at strategic points with high traffic of people and that – in the company of health specialists – allowed the conversation to open among the general public about menstruation, in addition to reporting on the lack of access to hygiene products suffered by girls and adolescents.
Menstrual education
This 2023, Always, with the support of Walmart de Centroamérica, reiterates its commitment to menstrual education by bringing back the Chica Ayuda Chica campaign, which is part of the efforts carried out by the brand of menstrual hygiene products for more than 35 years. , with the purpose that no girl and adolescent in the region stops attending school because they do not have access to products for their period.
The initiative will be active until September 26 of this year in Costa Rica, Guatemala and El Salvador, and seeks to give visibility to the problem in the region, in addition to combating the stigmas around menstruation.
Chica Ayuda Chica works as follows: for each package of Always purchased in establishments allied to the campaign, such as Walmart in the three countries, as well as Masxmenos in Costa Rica; Paiz in Guatemala and La Despensa de Don Juan in El Salvador, the brand donates a sanitary pad through non-governmental organizations also in alliance with Always.
The campaign began at the end of July in alliance with non-governmental organizations such as Hogar Siembra in Costa Rica, United Way in Guatemala and the Red Cross in El Salvador, in charge of identifying the communities to which the donations will be allocated.
Donation
In the 2021-2022 period alone, through the “Chica Ayuda Chica” initiative, 20 thousand towels were donated in Costa Rica, 35 thousand in Guatemala and 17 thousand in El Salvador.
By 2023, the goal is to donate approximately 90,000 sanitary pads to girls and adolescents who do not have access to menstrual products in Central America. The donations collected during the three months of Chica Ayuda Chica will be delivered to communities affected by the lack of these supplies.
“At Always we want to promote the conversation about menstrual poverty, and together with our allies, raise awareness and fight against the difficulties that prevent these girls from having decent menstruations. “Together we can take measures to end this problem that affects everything from the schooling of our girls and young people to the development of their self-esteem.”explains Alejandro Fernández, Director of Corporate Communication at P&G for Central America and the Caribbean.
With this campaign, Always reinforces its work of more than three decades of fighting to combat period poverty in the world in order to build confident adolescents, as well as to prevent girls from dropping out of school and provide opportunities for a better life. outlook for these populations at risk.
