Right to be a Girl
Duration: 2021 – 2023
Background
Ghana’s teenage pregnancy crisis remains a pressing development challenge, with 10.6% of adolescent girls becoming pregnant in 2022 according to ISSER research. The situation reveals deep systemic issues, as poverty forces many girls into transactional relationships simply to afford basic menstrual products. In the North Tongu District, especially during the spillage of the dam, and similar rural areas, the lack of affordable sanitary supplies and comprehensive reproductive health education creates a dangerous cycle where adolescents resort to unsafe materials and risky behaviors. These conditions not only threaten girls’ health and education but also perpetuate intergenerational poverty and gender inequality.
Strategy
Savana Signatures designed an integrated intervention addressing menstrual health as both an immediate need and systemic barrier.
1. The program established three permanent Sanitary Pad Banks in North Tongu District, creating sustainable access points that combine free product distribution with health education and referrals to support services.
2. Beyond physical infrastructure, the initiative partnered with civil society organizations to advocate policy reforms, contributing to the successful “Don’t Tax My Period” campaign that removed discriminatory taxes on sanitary products
3. The strategy also invested in long-term capacity building by training cohorts of teachers to deliver ongoing Reproductive Health Education in schools, ensuring institutional knowledge persists beyond the project timeline.
Key Highlights
The intervention achieved measurable impact across multiple levels through its comprehensive approach. Three fully operational Sanitary Pad Banks in North Tongu District have provided over 1000 girls with reliable access to menstrual products while serving as hubs for health education. The program’s advocacy component helped achieve national policy change through the removal of sanitary product taxes, reducing cost barriers for women and girls across Ghana.
Teacher training initiatives created sustainable change within the education system, with over 25 educators now regularly facilitating Reproductive Health Education sessions in project schools. This multilayered approach – combining service delivery, policy reform, and institutional capacity building – has demonstrated significant reductions in period-related school absenteeism while contributing to broader conversations about gender equity and adolescent health rights. The model’s success lies in its ability to simultaneously address immediate needs while transforming the systemic conditions that created the challenges.