Almost ten years after President Museveni vowed to supply free sanitary pads to all school-age girls during his 2016 election campaign, the government has reversed this commitment, citing the challenging economic circumstances in the country.
Minister of Gender, Labour, and Social Development Betty Amongi stated that the government is currently unable to honor this long-standing promise due to ongoing financial difficulties, leading to the dismissal of the project.
She mentioned that the government reviewed the plan to provide sanitary pads at no cost to all female students and determined that it is not feasible at this time, considering the present economic climate, which has also resulted in donors reducing their assistance due to political reasons.
Amongi emphasized that the reduction of taxes on sanitary pads was a significant reason behind this decision.
“The idea of free sanitary pads has been evaluated within our financial constraints and was deemed unsustainable at this moment, due to the economic situation. However, the issue of tax, I will bring to Cabinet, and since the tax regulations will be discussed here, we will explore how to address it,” Minister Amongi stated.
It is important to remember that while campaigning in the Lango sub-region in 2015, President Museveni guaranteed that if he were re-elected, the government would supply school-going girls with sanitary products.
The Minister made this announcement while addressing concerns voiced by Brenda Nabukenya (Luwero DWR) regarding the government’s inability to provide sanitary towels to women detained in various prisons throughout the nation.
In her remarks about this matter, Hon Brenda Nabukenya stated that, “We have women in prisons, our women don’t access sanitary pads, I have met several tell me that when they are in Prison and in their periods, until I get to reach my family, that is when I am able to access sanitary towels. The Ministry needs to visit Prisons and make sure that these women access everything they need because you have no control over that. We need to see that women can access sanitary towels in prisons. MPs, following a debate on the Statement to commemorate International Women’s Day.”
