Health Portfolio Committee to Address Sanitary Wear Petition Next Week

By Michael Gwarisa For many schoolgirls in rural Zimbabwe, menstruation is more than just a biological process, it is a barrier to education. Rumbidzai Magwere, a schoolgirl from Mvurwi, knows this all too well. “There are no pads in our school. Sometimes my period starts while I’m in class, and I am unprepared. It is embarrassing to sit in spoiled clothes. I have no choice but to miss lessons and stay home until it’s over. This is affecting my studies because lessons do not stop just because one girl is…

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Making the schools’ sanitary wear budget work for girls

In 2020 there was a landmark development in the menstrual health management space, following the signing of the Education Amendment Act into law by President Mnangagwa. We celebrated Section 4(1a) of the Act which requires the State to “ensure the provision of sanitary wear and other menstrual health facilities to girls in all schools to promote menstrual health.” This legislation makes it a legal obligation for government to provide free sanitary wear to all school girls. By Theresa Nyava-Machadu The background of this legislation is that many school girls were…

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