Period Poverty: SON and UNFPA Target Market Reforms to Protect Millions of Nigerian Women
CHIGOZIE AMADI
In a collaborative effort towards eradicating substandard sanitary products, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has partnered the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to ensure the safety, quality, acceptability and affordability of menstrual health products in Nigeria.
Speaking at the Nigeria Menstrual Health Product Forum 2026 in Lagos, themed, “Driving Standards and Policy Reform for Affordable Menstrual Products,” the Director General, SON, Dr. Ifeanyi Okeke, noted that the growing collaboration among regulators, government agencies, manufacturers and development partners was critical for women and girls to access menstrual products that meets required standards, while remaining affordable.
Okeke noted that quality and affordability must not be treated as competing objectives, adding that SON would continue to support measures aimed at strengthening standards, consumer protection and regulatory oversight in the menstrual health products sector.
The DG pointed out that effective standards would protect consumers, build confidence in the market and encourage responsible manufacturing.
In her submission, the UNFPA Gender/GBV Management Specialist, Dr. Zubaida Abubakar, called for the establishment of sanitary pad banks in schools nationwide to ensure that girls do not miss classes or examinations because of menstruation.
Abubakar stated that rising costs of menstrual products, inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, and limited access to quality products were contributing to period poverty.
She urged governments, civil society organisations, donors and philanthropists to support school-based pad banks, which would provide emergency supplies to girls who begin menstruating while in school.
She, however, stressed that providing pads must be complemented by adequate WASH facilities and safe disposal systems.
Abubakar maintained that UNFPA was also working with stakeholders to examine taxes, duties and levies affecting menstrual-product manufacturers and importers, with a view to reducing production costs and improving affordability.
She noted that the World Bank estimates that about 24 per cent of Nigerian schoolgirls regularly miss school because of inadequate menstrual materials and WASH infrastructure, while UNICEF estimates that about 37 million women and girls in Nigeria experience period poverty.
Also, the Deputy Director, Child Development Department, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, Mrs. Mariam Shuaibu, stated that the availability of disposable and reusable menstrual products in the market did not automatically guarantee quality.
According to Shuaibu, “It’s not just about having products in the market, but we want to ensure that those products meet the standards and quality that is desired to be used by women and girls in Nigeria.
“Period poverty went beyond the inability to buy pads. A girl could have access to a menstrual product but still lack water, privacy or a safe place to dispose of it.”
The Federal Ministry of Women Affairs disclosed that Nigeria’s National Policy on Menstrual Health and Hygiene Management had undergone consultations across the six geopolitical zones and been validated.
The ministry said efforts were underway to secure Federal Executive Council approval and subsequent adoption by states.
The stakeholders agreed that stronger standards, supportive policies, improved infrastructure and coordinated interventions would be essential to building a menstrual health products sector that guarantees safety, quality, acceptability and affordability for women and girls across Nigeria.
