Female learners at Salt River High School will now have access to sanitary products for the duration of the year thanks to the Western Cape Department of Social Development’s (DSD) Sanitary Dignity Project (SDP).
The school is one of 223 targeted by the department for this project.
On Friday 27 May, Sharna Fernandez, provincial minister for the department, conducted an oversight visit to the school, where she also handed over a total of six boxes containing sanitary products for the learners.
World Menstrual Hygiene Day, which was commemorated on Saturday 28 May, aims to bring together voices and actions of non-profit organisations (NPOs), government agencies, individuals and the media to promote good menstrual health and hygiene for everyone around the world.
They aim to do this by calling on all members of society to join hands and break the silence, raise awareness and change the negative social norms around menstrual health and hygiene.
The department in collaboration with the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has since the inception of the SDP reached 97 677 female learners at 223 schools across the province.
Addressing the learners, Fernandez said: “As a government I cannot reiterate enough the importance of providing support to female learners who at times find themselves unable to attend school, as a consequence of their inability to manage their periods. We believe that initiatives such as the sanitary dignity project are not only crucial to restoring the dignity of many female learners but also serves to address undue hardships and other educational barriers female learners face.”
She said the department is aware that more work is needed to fully understand the stigma associated with menstruation, break the silence effectively, and advance work towards the realisation of women’s rights and an understanding of gender equality that enables young women to make the most of the educational opportunities presented to them.
Donovan Nicholas, principal of the school, said many of the learners came from disadvantaged backgrounds and couldn’t always afford basic necessities.
The school kicked off its own dignity project in October last year to support the learners.
He said: “We are grateful the donation from the department. I think we received about 800 pads. We now have sufficient stock for the duration of the year.”
Nicholas said his school was overwhelmed by the outpouring support from the community and businesses towards the school’s dignity project.
“We would like to thank the community and all the various role players who have been supportive in our drive to restore dignity to our female learners.”
Fernandez said to advance the constitutional commitment to equality, and address the sanitary dignity of indigent female learners, the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with disabilities has embarked on the process of developing an integrated policy on the provision of sanitary products to indigent persons.
She said this was to ensure such people were allowed to manage menstruation in a knowledgeable, safe and dignified manner.
Fernandez said until now only a national framework had been developed and implemented.
In the absence of national policy, South Africa’s provinces determine how to implement a sanitary dignity programme.
In 2019, the Western Cape Cabinet and Provincial Treasury identified DSD as the leading department for the implementation of the Sanitary Dignity Implementation Framework.
Following an analysis of 2016-’18 data on school attendance and retention rates of female learners from Grades 4 to 12, schools in Q1-5 were identified for participating in the programme.
These schools include no-fee paying schools and fee charging schools.
Fernandez said it was decided that the project should prioritise schools in rural areas and include special needs schools-where the need is greatest.
Moreover, the Sanitary Dignity Programme will be enhanced by the inclusion of this aspect in the Life Orientation programmes offered by the Department of Education at schools.
“As a department, we remain committed to advancing the constitutional commitment of equality and promoting the menstrual hygiene of indigent female learners,” concluded Fernandez.
