Sanitary Pad Manufacturing Plant Set to Improve the Lives of 50,000 Ugandan girls and women

Up to 50,000 Ugandan lives will be significantly improved after the Ugandan Red Cross Society partnered with a UK charitable foundation to build a manufacturing plant for re-usable sanitary pads. Thanks to significant grant funding from the Randal Charitable Foundation the plant in Namakwa, Mukono district of Uganda, will also create employment opportunities for over 200 vulnerable girls and women who will be trained to make and market the pads. Once fully established the plant will manufacture 200,000 re-usable pads per year, which is an equivalent of 50,000 4-pad packs. Around 20 percent of the pads will be given to 10,000 vulnerable girls in-school free of charge. The remaining 80 percent will be commercialised to 40,000 girls and women in the wider community at a subsidised price, which will ensure the long-term sustainability of the manufacturing facility. Dr Nik Kotecha OBE DL, Founder and Chair of Trustees of the Randal Charitable Foundation, said: “Our mission is to directly save and significantly improve the lives of the most vulnerable in society in the UK and globally. “This project is so beneficial to the community because without access to high quality sanitary pads and toilets, or washrooms for changing, many girls and women are not able to go far from their homes. “The consequence of this is that they often cannot attend school, and in many cases become trapped in their homes unable to earn a living to support their families. “We are delighted with our partnership with the Ugandan Red Cross Society because the manufacturing facility will have the dual benefits of ensuring girls are able to stay in school to gain a good education, and in many cases a future free of extreme poverty. It will also deliver sustainable skilled employment to the women and girls involved in the production and sale of the pads.”