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Salesian Institute Youth Projects and MENstruation Foundation unite to create sustainable menstrual dignity for vulnerable girls and young women
While Women’s Month celebrates the achievements and resilience of South African women, thousands of girls continue to miss school every month for one simple reason, they cannot afford sanitary products.
For the Salesian Institute Youth Projects (SIYP), period poverty is not just a health issue. It is an education issue, a gender equality issue and, above all, a dignity issue.
This Women’s Month, SIYP is calling on South Africans to help turn awareness into action through its Pads, Power and Progress campaign, in partnership with the MENstruation Foundation. Together, the organisations are working towards a sustainable solution that will ensure vulnerable girls and young women have reliable access to menstrual products throughout the year. Unlike once-off sanitary pad donation drives, the initiative focuses on creating lasting impact by installing a sanitary pad dispensing machine at SIYP’s Learn to Live School of Skills in Green Point, providing discreet, dependable access to essential menstrual products for learners who need them most. For more than a century, SIYP has supported vulnerable and at-risk youth from communities across the Western Cape through education, vocational training, psychosocial support and employment pathways. Increasingly, staff have witnessed the hidden reality of learners missing classes, withdrawing from activities or struggling through the school day simply because they cannot manage their periods with dignity.
“Women’s Month reminds us that empowerment begins with meeting basic human needs,” says Jo Da Silva, Fundraising Manager at Salesian Institute Youth Projects.
“No young woman should have to choose between attending school and managing her period. Menstrual dignity is fundamental to education, confidence and opportunity. Through this campaign, we want to inspire businesses, organisations and individuals to become part of a long-term solution that changes lives every single month.”
The partnership with the MENstruation Foundation represents a shift towards sustainable menstrual health support that continues long after awareness campaigns have ended.
“Periods don’t happen once a year, they happen every month,” says Marius Basson, Founder of the MENstruation Foundation. “Real impact comes from creating systems that provide consistent access to menstrual products with dignity. By partnering with organisations like SIYP, we can help remove one of the barriers preventing girls from reaching their full potential.”
The campaign aligns with SIYP’s broader commitment to empowering young people through education and skills development. From maritime and hospitality training to renewable energy programmes and its accredited Stitch Ahead sewing initiative, which also produces reusable sanitary pads, SIYP continues to equip young people with practical skills while addressing the social challenges that stand in the way of their success.
Women’s Month provides an opportunity for South Africans to do more than acknowledge the issue of period poverty.
SIYP is encouraging companies, foundations, community organisations and individuals to become partners in building a future where every girl can attend school with confidence and dignity.Support can take many forms from financial contributions towards the campaign and corporate partnerships to awareness initiatives and employee giving programmes. Every contribution helps move the campaign closer to ensuring that menstrual dignity becomes a reality for vulnerable young women.
To support the Pads, Power and Progress campaign, visit:
https://www.backabuddy.co.za/organization/salesian-institute-youth-projects
About Salesian Institute Youth Projects
Salesian Institute Youth Projects is a Cape Town-based non-profit organisation that has worked with vulnerable and at-risk youth for over a century. Rooted in the Salesian tradition of St John Bosco, SIYP provides education, vocational training, psychosocial support and employability pathways to young people across the Western Cape through programmes including Learn to Live School of Skills, Waves of Change Maritime Programme, NEETs Youth Employability Programme and Stitch Ahead.