The COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe disruption to schooling over the past 18 months for Zambia’s more than 4 million learners.
With the reopening of schools following the country’s third wave of infections, UNICEF and the Global Partnership for Education are working to ensure COVID-19 does not end up being the reason many children drop out of school.
While waves of COVID-19 have led to school closures and delays across the country, a more regular and long-running disruption has been the menstrual cycle.
“My mother used to give me a cloth to use when my period starts. The cloth used to get wet quickly and it would burn me, making me very uncomfortable,” said 13-year-old Patience in Zambia’s Nakonde District on the border with Tanzania.
“I would then have to stay home for a couple of days so that the burns can heal.”
Without access to sanitary pads, fellow student Victoria, also 13, faced similar issues: “I would miss school for a week whenever I have my period because of fear of embarrassment, as I experience heavy bleeding whenever I have my period. The cloth pads were not adequate to keep me ‘safe.’ The absenteeism resulted in me falling behind in my schoolwork.”
Under a GPE-supported program with Zambia’s Ministry of Education, UNICEF procured and delivered more than 54,564 reusable sanitary pads as part of a wider package of support to help the education sector recover from the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as to make schools safer places.