Elizabeth DiCesare in Innovations in Humanitarian Aid
While refugee camps provide people with basic necessities such as shelter, food and clean water, many personal items are not provided, which can make hygiene difficult to maintain.
In many cases, feminine hygiene is often forgotten. As such, girls and women are left to deal with their periods by themselves. Many are forced to reuse rags and pieces of garbage, which can led to illness and infections. With respect to the Syrian refugee crisis, more than 1 million girls and women between the ages of 12 and 59, nearly 29% of the 4,289,792 registered Syrian refugees, are affected.
Distributing Products in Zaatari Refugee Camp
In Jordan’s Zaatari Refugee Camp, home to nearly 80,000 registered refugees, the organization Loving Humanity is trying to help address menstrual health. The goal is to distribute 12 machines that assemble low-cost sanitary pads. The machines cost roughly CAD$2,500 each, while the materials to assemble approximately 30,000 pads cost only CAD$500 (or $1 for 60 pads). This extremely cost-efficient alternative ensures that girls and women are able to use clean products while menstruating.
The machines also benefit the refugee camps because they provide jobs for women. Over the course of the project, 35 women will be trained to use the machines. This, in turn, helps provide a sense of pride, dignity and empowerment for those involved. By providing each other with sanitary pads, girls and women are able to create a sense of community within the refugee camp, and also remain in control of their bodies.
The availability of these sanitary pads is also crucial to the girls and women living in Zaatari Refugee Camp because they are unable to use their weekly allowances (provided by the UN) to purchase feminine hygiene products. Rather, these allowances are intended for food and water purchases. These rules make it extremely difficult to properly manage a period.
If all goes well with the project in the Zaatari Refugee Camp, the program will expand into more refugee camps in the coming months.
Watch Amy Peake, Loving Humanity’s founder, demonstrate the machine here.
Distributing Products in Kleve, Germany
In Kleve, Germany, where roughly 300 refugees live, girls and women are still struggling to find menstrual hygiene products. However, a new crowdfunding campaign, called Worldwide Allies for Menstrual Supplies, is working to help increase access to pads, tampons and clean underwear for this segment of the refugee population.
Aislinn Beaulé, a Canadian exchange student living in Germany, launched the campaign after she learned that female refugees had extreme difficultly accessing basic hygiene products that many others often take for granted. The campaign was able to raise €585. Although small, it is a positive start in the right direction.