Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of including sanitary product provision as requirement for any girls' education programme funded by his Department.

Tackling the complex barriers to girls' education will be key to achieving 12 years of quality education for all girls. Enabling all girls who menstruate to manage their periods safely, hygienically, and with dignity, allows them to stay in school and fully participate in society. The FCDO takes an integrated approach to ending period poverty and shame, tackling the range of barriers that girls and women face in managing their periods. This includes access to products as well as safe hygiene facilities, education on sexual and reproductive health and rights, and shifting social norms to tackle stigma and shame.

Through the Girls' Education Challenge, and other UK aid programmes, we have supported education about periods, girls' access to sanitary products, and improvements to school sanitation facilities. We have also supported a pilot "menstruation friendly" school package in Uganda.