Mpesa Foundation to distribute free Sanitary towels to school Girls

M-PESA Foundation has entered into a partnership with the Ministry of Education to distribute free sanitary towels worth Kshs 21 million shillings to over 180,000 needy girls from across the country.

The programme is part of the M-PESA Foundation’s Kshs 44 million menstrual hygiene program launched in December 2020 as part of Safaricom’s 20th-anniversary celebrations.

Launching the programme this morning alongside the Executive Director of M-PESA Foundation Ms Les Baille, the Cabinet Secretary for Education Prof. George Magoha said access to sanitary towels remains a critical challenge for many girls across the country and the ministry remains determined to ensure that no school going girl is left out of class due to lack of pads.

“We welcome the continued partnership with M-PESA Foundation which we started in 2019 when we distributed sanitary pads to over 800,000 girls”, Said Professor Magoha.

On his part, Mr. Baille said many girls are not able to access menstrual hygiene products with statistics indicating that 65 percent of women and girls in Kenya cannot afford them while 42 percent of school-going girls have never used sanitary pads.

“That is why as a Foundation we came up with this menstrual health program to support girls’ education and ensure that they live in dignity,’’ said Les Baille, Executive Director, M-PESA Foundation.