Pads for Her Initiative, a youth-led organization focused on ending period poverty and menstrual stigma, is set to host a high-level Policy Roundtable on Advancing Menstrual Health Through Policy Action on September 18, 2025, in Abuja.
The event is being organised in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Youth Development.
The roundtable will bring together government officials, civil society actors, development partners, the private sector, and youth-led organizations to discuss practical policies aimed at improving menstrual health access across the country.
Millions of Nigerian women and girls, particularly in rural and underserved areas, still struggle to access affordable sanitary products and proper menstrual hygiene education.
Amarachi Blessing Ojimmah, Founder of Pads for Her Initiative, highlighted the importance of policy-driven change.
“Menstrual health is not a luxury; it is a fundamental human right. While humanitarian interventions have helped, long-lasting change can only be achieved when menstrual equity is prioritized at the policy level,” she said.
The roundtable will focus on three main policy priorities: removing Value Added Tax on menstrual products to make them more affordable, enforcing Nigeria’s National Policy on Menstrual Health and Hygiene Management, and supporting local production of sanitary items through tax incentives, subsidies, and regulatory support.
Key participants will include representatives from the Federal Ministries of Youth Development, Health, Women Affairs, and Education, regulatory agencies such as NAFDAC and the Standards Organization of Nigeria, legislators, menstrual product manufacturers, development partners like UNFPA and UNICEF, and youth-led organizations.
The event is expected to produce actionable commitments from government agencies, strengthen local production and distribution of menstrual products, endorse policy recommendations, and issue a joint communique with a strategic roadmap for sustained advocacy.
Pads for Her Initiative has called on all stakeholders to join the roundtable and ensure menstrual equity and dignity for women and girls in Nigeria.
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