Back-to-School Pad Drive Targets Period Poverty to Keep Girls in Class

As schools reopen for the academic year, DGN Sanitary Pads has launched a Back-to-School Pad Drive aimed at addressing period poverty, an often-overlooked barrier that continues to disrupt the education of thousands of schoolgirls across South Africa.

Research and on-the-ground experience show that learners without access to menstrual products are more likely to miss school, fall behind academically, and disengage from the learning environment. The Back-to-School Pad Drive directly responds to this challenge by distributing sanitary pads to learners in under-resourced schools at the start of the school term, when absenteeism linked to menstruation is most prevalent.

By aligning menstrual health support with the back-to-school period, the initiative highlights period poverty as not only a health concern, but a critical education and social equity issue. Education stakeholders increasingly recognise that ensuring uninterrupted school attendance for girls requires practical interventions that support dignity, hygiene, and confidence.

It all began when Dr. Vivian Mokome (PhD), through the Mokome Foundation, started visiting schools to donate sanitary pads to young girls who were missing school due to lack of menstrual care. What initially appeared to be an isolated challenge quickly revealed a deeper and more widespread issue, systemic period poverty affecting learners across multiple communities.

These early school engagements exposed the link between menstrual health and educational outcomes, prompting the establishment of DGN Sanitary Pads as a long-term, sustainable solution rather than a once-off charitable response. The Back-to-School Pad Drive is a continuation of that work, designed to support consistent school attendance while normalising conversations around menstrual health in educational spaces.

Choosing Dignity goes deeper than just a pad, it’s about empowerment. Every purchase fuels the mission to combat period poverty, ensuring that women and girls can manage their menstrual health with confidence and dignity. Dignity organic biodegradable sanitary pads and body liners are designed to be comfortable, thinner than conventional pads, practical to use, and to offer superior leak resistance, even during heavy flow.

The products conform to rigorous safety and hygiene standards and feature food-grade aluminium foil with resealable openings, providing enhanced protection against moisture, mould, and bacteria, making them suitable for school environments where storage conditions may be limited.

The Back-to-School Pad Drive invites corporates, education departments, NGOs, and the public to participate in addressing a challenge that directly impacts learner retention and performance. 

By ensuring access to menstrual products, the initiative contributes to broader national goals around gender equality, education access, and youth development.

As the school year begins, the campaign reinforces a clear message: no learner should miss school because of their period.