The 59th SRC Women’s Commission at the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), in partnership with Flo 360, has launched a menstrual pad bank project at the university. This initiative aims to improve menstrual hygiene and provide support for female students in times of unexpected need.
The event, which took place on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, on the UPSA campus, was launched under the theme “Dignity, Access and Action.” The initiative seeks to increase access to sanitary towels as well as address menstrual challenges faced by female students.
The Women’s Commissioner, Aisha Sumaila, noted that the project is part of the SRC WOCOM’s efforts to create a supportive and inclusive campus environment for women.
“The problem is that female students mostly have challenges when they stain themselves. They feel like they have to go back to their hostels to change and return, and this takes a lot of time. You can miss your class or even your exams, and it looks like it’s their fault for staining themselves, but menstruation is a natural thing,” she said.
“You don’t have to face any consequences for flowing or staining yourself on campus, so because of this, we thought as a Commission to come up with something that can easily help us prevent all these things,” she added.
Sumaila further highlighted that the success of the initiative was a result of the relentless support shown by management. She also extended appreciation to Flo 360 for their partnership.
She recommended the initiative to other tertiary institutions, as it would help build confidence in female students who may feel less empowered after experiencing an inconvenient menstrual moment.
“As a WOCOM, how are you empowering your ladies? You have to think about their dignity because this is not just anything. Staining yourself may look shameful. It makes us feel uncomfortable, and we even lose confidence in ourselves, so I will tell the Women’s Commission of every institution that they should take this project as their main initiative so that they can have something at least similar to this,” she beseeched.
At the launch, officials unveiled a pad dispensing system that requires a special token or coin to access sanitary towels.
According to the organisers, the intervention is expected to promote proper sanitation while ensuring dignity and convenience for female students.
Students who spoke to Univers News welcomed the initiative and commended the WOCOM for introducing the project to make sanitary products more accessible across the university community. The initiative would also help to improve attendance among female students.
“It is going to help boost the confidence of students because they know that regardless of whether they are supposed to come to class and they get stained, there is the possibility of getting a pad in the washrooms, so it will encourage attendance in our classrooms,” a student remarked.
The initiative, introduced ahead of International Menstrual Hygiene Day, slated for Friday, May 28, 2026, seeks to address challenges some students face in accessing sanitary products on campus. Hopefully, more female students can face their academic journey without their menstrual cycles being a barrier to their education
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Story by Linda Enyan|univers.ug.edu.gh
Edited by Anita Azawodie
