Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities deliver on sanitary dignity programme
The Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, through its sanitary dignity programme, continued to deliver free disposable sanitary pads to indigent/poor girls and women since 2019.
The Sanitary Dignity Implementation Framework (SDIF) was developed and approved by Cabinet in 2017. This is to manage menstruation in a safe, knowledgeable and dignified manner. importantly to ensure that female learners attend school uninterrupted by the normal process of menstruation.
This therefore addresses menstrual health and sexual reproductive health rights of girl learners. The provision of such well-needed products has enabled girl learners to reach their fullest potential at school, just like is the case with boy learners, therefore the programme provides equal education opportunities amongst all genders.
The current budget for the programme in the 2023/24 financial year is 235 million rand, which shall increase in the 2024/25 financial year as well as into the outer years. In line with the implementation of the sanitary dignity implementation framework (SDIF), Provinces receive the allocation through a direct equitable share budget from National Treasury to roll out the programme to quintiles 1, 2, & 3 (no fee paying) schools, special and farm schools.
From 2019 to 2023, the sanitary dignity programme has benefited a total of 4,3 million learners. Another contributor to the programme is the Department of Higher Education, Training & Innovation through ensuring that National Student Financial Scheme (NSFAS) grant beneficiaries in post-education and training institutions (universities, colleges & TVETS) receive monthly stipends of R290.00 to purchase menstrual products of their choice, amongst other things. The number of such beneficiaries reached in 2023 is 429,000 female students.
“Although provision is made to ensure that girls and women’s dignity is addressed and that menstrual products poverty is mitigated, many other indigent deserving women and girls cannot be reached due to budgetary constraints”. said Minister Dlamini Zuma.
As the programme matures, the dignity of women and girls will be restored. That is why the Cabinet indicated in 2017 that the programme will take an incremental approach as far as budget allocation is concerned. As a result, the allocation was 157 million rands in 2019/20 and by 2023/24 it had increased to 235 million rands.
Another important development is that through the programme, women, youth and persons with disabilities enterprises have emerged in the form of manufacturing and distribution of menstrual products through provincial government public procurement processes. One of the highlights of this achievement has been assisting a small local brand called Lindiwe Pads to grow and create its own sanitary pads local manufacturing factory in Gauteng. It has impressive facilities, state-of-the-art machinery and raw materials.
Apart from the owner’s bold initiatives, this has been through efforts to give strategic, operational and financial support to Lindiwe Pads provided by the Department of Trade, Industry & Competition, Department of Small Business Development, Industrial Development Corporation and DWYPD. The role of the DWYPD has been to provide policy clarity, and moral encouragement, introducing the owner to various platforms for publicity as well as engaging with IDC to vouch for sustainability of the company.
Lindiwe Pads enterprise has been awarded a contract to distribute disposable sanitary pads that are South African Bureau on Standards (SABS) compliant in one of the education districts in the Eastern Cape. The National Strategic Plan on GBVF calls for the Economic Empowerment of Women and through the the economic value chain of the sanitary dignity programme, women, youth and persons with disability-owned enterprises can benefit. In 2019 a Zero VAT rate was pronounced by the Minister of Finance on disposable sanitary pads to make them more accessible for women and girls.
Media Enquiries:
Director Communication: Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities. Cassius Selala
E-mail: Cassius.Selala@dwypd.gov.za
Cell: 060 543 0672
Lungi Mtshali
E-mail: Lungi.mtshali@dwypd.gov.za
Cell: 082 088 5060
