Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department has plans to fund the manufacture and provision of period pants in developing countries; and if she will make a statement.

The UK is committed to enabling all girls and women to manage menstruation safely, hygienically and with dignity, allowing them to stay in school and participate in society during their period. Access to affordable sanitary products is central to this and the UK is supporting a number of innovative projects to enhance access and choice. This includes a technology transfer initiative with the Indian company Aakar (www.aakarinnovations.com) to enable them to take their women’s enterprise and simple technology model for the local production of quality, low-cost, environmentally-friendly sanitary pads to Kenya and Tanzania. In Zimbabwe, we are supporting women’s groups to make reusable sanitary pads as part of a wider programme to support 95,000 vulnerable girls to stay in school. In Uganda, we have supported the testing and development of sustainable market models for distributing menstrual hygiene cups at scale. We also support menstrual hygiene management more broadly through health, girls’ education and water, sanitation and hygiene programmes across sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.