Menstrual health and education

Free Sanitary Pads Initiative

School distribution visit in Kono District, reported March 2025

The First Lady’s free sanitary pads programme helps schoolgirls access menstrual products and opens conversations about menstruation at school.

Explore the initiative

Why the programme exists

Access to menstrual products can affect whether pupils are able to attend school. Through Hands Off Our Girls, the programme provides pads and encourages open conversations about menstruation.

Explore Hands Off Our Girls

From the programme’s launch to the 2022 campaign

December 2019
The First Lady’s Office dates the launch of the schoolgirl sanitary pads initiative to December 2019. It was designed to support the government’s Free Quality Education initiative and included menstrual hygiene education.
January 2021
The Freetown distribution began on 20 January at Lady Patricia Kabba Secondary School, Services Secondary School and Vine Memorial Secondary School in Freetown. During the visits, the First Lady encouraged pupils to speak about menstruation without shame.
2 June 2022
President Julius Maada Bio formally launched the 2022 distribution campaign in Freetown. The President and the First Lady distributed pads to secondary school pupils attending the event.
Read about the 2022 launch

Freetown · 2 June 2022

The distribution campaign launch

Read the report

A pupil and President Julius Maada Bio hold a pack of menstrual products at the 2022 launch

A speaker addresses a seated audience at the 2022 distribution launch in Freetown

Participants gather for a group photograph at the Freetown launch

Documented district visits

The First Lady visited Kenema and Kailahun on 24 January 2025. In Port Loko on 4 February 2025, she distributed sanitary pads to schoolgirls and shoes to both boys and girls. The March 2025 update from Kono covers a further distribution of pads and shoes.

Kenema story

24 January 2025