Service Information

More than 80% of Burundian women and girls cannot afford to buy menstrual pads every month: the cheapest pads available on the market cost approximately 1 US$ (2,000 BIF). That’s a lot of money to spend every month for many families in Burundi. Furthermore, more than 89% of Burundian girls and women cannot afford to buy underwear: no pads and no underwear. As a consequence, they miss out on education, work and other opportunities in life, because they cannot manage their menstruation with normalcy and dignity. Girls stay at home instead of going to school when they have their periods, and miss an average of five days of school each month. Without resources like textbooks to catch up on lessons, they find themselves further and further behind in classes, fail tests, get discouraged and far too often, drop out of school. The consequences of dropping out are devastating: early marriages and pregnancies, as well as limited career opportunities. This continues the cycle of poverty for the girls and their families.