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0 NewsGhana, Latest Updates and Breaking News of Ghana, Isaac Kofi Dzokpo, https://www.newsghana.com.gh/csos-urge-government-to-include-out-of-school-girls-in-free-sanitary-pad-policy/The Ghana CSOs Platform on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has called on the government to expand the country’s Free Sanitary Pad Distribution Policy to include girls and young women outside the formal school system.
The call was made as the Platform marked the third anniversary of its landmark #DontTaxMyPad advocacy campaign in commemoration of World Menstrual Hygiene Day 2026, under the global theme, “Together for a #PeriodFriendlyWorld.”
The Platform praised the government for key policy reforms achieved through sustained advocacy but stressed that thousands of vulnerable girls and young women remain excluded from the current intervention.
The #DontTaxMyPad campaign, launched on Menstrual Hygiene Day in 2023, has recorded major advocacy successes over the past three years.
In 2024, following campaigns including social media activism, petitions, press conferences, webinars, and a picketing exercise at Parliament, the government announced zero-rated VAT on locally produced sanitary pads and import duty waivers on raw materials used in local pad manufacturing.
In 2025, the government further committed GH¢292.4 million towards the distribution of free sanitary pads to female students in primary and secondary schools, a programme currently benefiting nearly two million schoolgirls every month.
In a statement signed by the National Coordinator of the Ghana CSO Platform on the SDGs, Mrs. Levlyn Konadu Asiedu, the Platform described the progress as a significant milestone in menstrual health advocacy in Ghana.
“Three years ago, sanitary pads were taxed with more than 32 percent in taxes at a time when a pack cost more than a day’s minimum wage of GH¢14.88. Today, that policy has been reversed, and millions of schoolgirls are receiving pads free of charge. We commend the government for listening and acting,” she stated.
Despite the gains, the Platform said a major gap still exists in the country’s menstrual health response, particularly for girls and young women outside formal education.
According to the statement, an estimated 1.8 million girls and young women in Ghana are engaged in apprenticeships, vocational training, informal employment, or are completely out of school, and are therefore excluded from the free sanitary pad programme.
“These young women menstruate every month and face the same economic barriers that drove the original campaign,” Mrs. Asiedu noted.
“A policy that leaves out the girl in a hairdressing apprenticeship in Kumasi, the young woman working in a chop bar in Nkwanta, or the school dropout in a rural community in the Savannah Region is a policy that is not yet complete,” she added.
The Platform is therefore urging the government to develop a comprehensive national menstrual health strategy that covers all girls and women, regardless of their educational status or location.
Among its recommendations, the Platform called on the government to extend the free sanitary pad programme to girls and young women outside the formal school system, including those in apprenticeships, Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programmes, and informal settlements.
It also called for increased investment in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) infrastructure, community-based distribution systems, and menstrual health education.
Additionally, the Platform urged authorities to ensure strict market monitoring so that tax waivers on locally produced sanitary pads translate into sustained price reductions for consumers.
The CSOs further demanded the publication of regular and transparent data on the distribution, reach, and pricing impact of the programme, while also advocating the integration of menstrual health services into the Community Health Planning and Services (CHPS) programme to reach underserved communities.
“Expanding the scope of the free sanitary pad policy will ensure that no girl or young woman is left behind and that every girl can menstruate with dignity,” Mrs. Asiedu stressed.
The Ghana CSOs Platform on the SDGs is a coordinating body for civil society organisations working towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
Institutionalised in May 2016, the Platform consists of more than 400 member organisations, including coalitions, associations, unions, community-based organisations, local and international NGOs, and religious groups operating across Ghana.
NewsGhana, Latest Updates and Breaking News of Ghana, Isaac Kofi Dzokpo, https://www.newsghana.com.gh/csos-urge-government-to-include-out-of-school-girls-in-free-sanitary-pad-policy/
