SON, UNFPA Join Forces to Promote Safe and Affordable Menstrual Products in Nigeria
In a strategic move to enhance menstrual health and hygiene in Nigeria, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) have intensified their collaboration to promote the safety, quality, acceptability, and affordability of menstrual products across the country.
During the Nigeria Menstrual Health Product Forum 2026 in Lagos, themed “Driving Standards and Policy Reform for Affordable Menstrual Products,” SON’s Director-General, Dr. Ifeanyi Okeke, highlighted the importance of this partnership. “The growing collaboration among regulators, government agencies, manufacturers and development partners is critical to ensuring that women and girls have access to menstrual products that meet required standards while remaining affordable.”
Okeke emphasised that “quality and affordability must not be treated as competing objectives,” reaffirming SON’s commitment to supporting measures that strengthen standards, consumer protection, and regulatory oversight. He added, “Effective standards will protect consumers, build confidence in the market and encourage responsible manufacturing.”
At the same event, UNFPA Gender/GBV Management Specialist, Dr. Zubaida Abubakar, called for innovative solutions such as the establishment of sanitary pad banks in schools nationwide. She stressed that “rising costs of menstrual products, inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, and limited access to quality products were contributing to period poverty.” Abubakar urged governments, civil society, donors, and philanthropists to support these school-based initiatives, which would provide emergency supplies to girls experiencing menstruation at school.
She also highlighted the importance of comprehensive support, noting that “providing pads must be complemented by adequate WASH facilities and safe disposal systems.” UNFPA is actively working with stakeholders to examine taxes, duties, and levies affecting menstrual-product manufacturers and importers, aiming to reduce production costs and improve affordability.
Statistics from the World Bank reveal that approximately 24% of Nigerian schoolgirls miss school regularly due to inadequate menstrual materials and WASH infrastructure, while UNICEF estimates that around 37 million women and girls in Nigeria experience period poverty.
Mrs. Mariam Shuaibu, Deputy Director of the Child Development Department at the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, underscored that “the availability of disposable and reusable menstrual products in the market did not automatically guarantee quality.” She stressed that “it’s not just about having products in the market, but we want to ensure that those products meet the standards and quality that is desired to be used by women and girls in Nigeria.”
Shuaibu further explained that “period poverty goes beyond the inability to buy pads,” noting that “a girl could have access to a menstrual product but still lack water, privacy or a safe place to dispose of it.” The ministry also shared that Nigeria’s National Policy on Menstrual Health and Hygiene Management has undergone extensive consultations across all six geopolitical zones and is currently being prepared for Federal Executive Council approval and subsequent adoption by states.
Stakeholders agreed that strengthening standards, supporting policy reform, improving infrastructure, and fostering coordinated interventions are vital steps toward building a sustainable menstrual health products sector that guarantees safety, quality, acceptability, and affordability for Nigerian women and girls.
