Positive Environmental Impact of our Positive Period Project in Sierra Leone

In 2019, we set up our Positive Periods project in Sierra Leone. It is a sustainable solution to the need for menstruation protection products and health education that is accessible to all, including women and girls in remote areas with low income. By learning to make re-usable period pads from local materials, and tackling the stigma attached to periods through education, communities in Sierra Leone can share their knowledge and empower women and girls to take control of their lives. Girls can miss up to a quarter of their school education because they don’t have an adequate way of managing their periods, and are often told to stay at home during menstruation.

 

 

The Environmental Impact of Periods


Another very significant challenge is that for those who can afford shop bought disposable sanitary protection there is no way to properly dispose of these pads and they can end up in open landfill areas near to habitation and ultimately cause a health concern. Disposable pads do not disintegrate. Most menstrual pads are made from 90% plastic. It takes nearly 500-800 years for one sanitary pad to decompose as the sanitary pad's plastic is non-biodegradable. They also contain super-absorbent polymers (SAP), which don't decompose. They gradually break down into what are known as micro-plastics, which contaminate soil, water and air. They also enter the food chain injecting toxins into the food humans and animals consume.

 

There is also a huge carbon footprint that goes into making these products. Sanitary pads contain volatile organic compounds and phthalates and, according to a new study, continued, long-term exposure to these, a significant amount of these harmful chemicals could be absorbed into the body. Women around the world are concerned about the products they use and this is the case in Sierra Leone, we have interviewed many women who do not want to use disposable sanitary pads for this reason alone, not just the cost.




The aims of the Positive Periods Project


In an interview with Isata, the coordinator of the project, we wanted to explore life for women and girls before the Positive Periods Project.


Similarly to many countries, Sierra Leone suffers from an unequal literacy rate gap between their male and female citizens: in 2018, male literacy rates were 51.65% while female literacy rates were only 34.85%. This divide is a result of a range of factors including teen pregnancies, attitudes towards girls education, gender equality, access to health education and even the distances of schools from homes. 


During the interview with Isata regarding life before the project, she explained that the embarrassment and taboo of menstruation and the development of female bodies also aided the lack attendance of girls to school. The fear of bleeding in class and the responses from not only their male peers but also their teachers, leads to girls to opting to stay at home, and in many instances, they are asked to stay home when menstruating.


One of the aims of the Positive Periods Project is to teach girls, women, boys and men how to make sustainable, re-usable period pads from local materials, to reduce the cost and the waste caused by disposable pads. This ensures that girls will always have access to period pads when they need them during menstruation because they can make them themselves.


Importantly the other aim of the project is to educate both men and women about gender equality, women’s health and development, and help remove the taboo around menstruation and the development of female bodies, to create a more excepting and fairer environment for both girls and women. This project has also been extended in some schools to include Gender Based Violence awareness and prevention training for teachers, and sexual health education and awareness for girls.



Implementation of the Project


During the interview with Isata, she reflected on how initially it was difficult to get schools to comply with the project. Factors such as limited government funding and the ingrained taboo towards women’s health among the communities contributed to this difficulty. To overcome these initial challenges Istata understood that the way to encourage people to engage is to ‘deliver with passion’. This was how she was able to get people to listen and make them aware aware of the importance of this situation, not only sustainable period products, but also women’s health, education and wellbeing. Those involved must truly believe it and teach with emotion.


The Steve Sinnott Foundation has launched the PPP in different areas of the globe and each community adapts it to fit their needs, their local circumstances and national issues. Within Sierra Leone, the types of volunteers, the specific needs of the teachers and the girls Isata talked to in the schools, along with the affordable materials they had access to, helped develop the project in the direction it needed to go to suit the specific needs of the recipients.


During the global Coronavirus pandemic the number of volunteers and access to materials decreased. Despite this, the project managed to persevere due to the prior training of teachers conducted before.


The training process for the project started with winning over the headteachers of 15 schools in 4 regions of Sierra Leone. This led to two teachers from each school, being invited to the workshop where they were taught how to make the re-usable period pads, and taught by psychologists and economists about womens health and the economic and environmental impacts of the project.


During the interview Isata emphasised that it was important that both male and female teachers were included in the workshop to break the taboo around womens’ health and bodies, to promote gender equality.





Results of the Project


Following the start-up of the Positive Period Project in Sierra Leone in 2019, Isata has recorded the influential changes that are currently being seen as a result.


To ensure the teacher training workshops are successful, teachers had to evidence that they would be able to pass on what they had learnt to the other teachers in their schools and to their students. In this way the training is cascaded down through the communities. Isata is then able to visit these schools to follow up and make sure that the training has been passed on and the girls are benefiting from this, and running additional workshops with pupils at school. She explained that other organisations had made the mistake of offering training, but not following up, so in many cases the training was not passed on and there was limited benefit. Working with The Steve Sinnott Foundation she was able to convey this concern and we made sure that following up was an integral part of the project.


Isata has been able to overcome the initial resistance and connect to the communities in Sierra Leone. She has been able to help the teachers to overcome the challenges they have faced in cascading the training down through their communities and make sure that the knowledge is passed on. In this way she has seen the numbers of girls benefiting from this work increase to an estimated 5 thousand in the three years that it has been running.


Overall, the project has been a success with Sierra Leone. Girls are now more willing to go to school during menstruation, they feel safer knowing that their teachers understand and are supporting them to do this. In many schools there are now reporting systems in place for girls to use if they feel unsafe or threatened as their bodies change and gain the attention of boys and men in their communities and school. As they become less embarrassed about menstruation and their bodies, and more aware of their rights and how to access them, girls are changing their attitude and expectations. This results in male teachers and students changing their mindsets towards women and girls, their health and menstruation.


One more outcome of the project is that women and girls are seeing the economic opportunity for themselves too. Some are acting on the potential to create an income from selling the re-usable pads they are making, and that offers them more independence and self-reliance too.





The Future of the project


After two years of the Positive Period Project running in Sierra Leone Isata has some big plans on how to develop this to ensure that it reaches more than the four regions that it is currently targeting.


Ideas on the expansion of the project in Sierra Leone include creating centres where women can access the materials necessary to create their own period pads, and information around womens’ health, pregnancy and gender equality, instead of only targeting schools. This could become an entrepreneurial venture to help women earn their own income, from learning how to make re-usable pads and how to run their own entrepreneurial enterprise. This was inspired by the pandemic when many started profiting from making sustainable masks to sell.


To support this next chapter, Isata needs more sewing machines for each local area, or centre. To create pads on a larger scale, more materials are needed, and tools such as scissors and clips. They also face other challenges including the lack of funding, which limits each school workshop to 30 children rather than 150, and the limited amount of material resulting in teachers expecting this to be provided with their training, all need to be resolved before the expansion of the overall project.





What next?


With the success of the Positive Period Project in Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Cuba and Haiti, we are aiming to enable more countries to benefit from this project.


It benefits women and girls in an economic way, enables them to access their education and not have to take time off, but as well as that, it benefits the environment. This is a win win project, benefiting women and the environment, which ultimately benefits the whole human race and opens up the future prospects for the entire planet.

 

Who knows, with an estimated 2 billion menstrual items being flushed down Britain's toilets each year, maybe women and girls in the UK would like to be involved in this benefit too. Exploratory workshops run here were successful and opened up the conversation around period poverty in wealthier countries, as well as women’s commitment to a more environmentally friendly way of managing our periods.





You can support our Positive Periods Project here


Steve Sinnott • November 8, 2021

Local Heroes: Listening to Young Voices

By Ann Beatty • July 23, 2026
Something is energising about spending time with people who genuinely care about children and young people. That was my experience at this year’s Children’s Media Conference in Sheffield. I had the privilege of joining the Local Heroes panel, sharing the story of Seeds of Hope for a Better Future - a partnership between UNESCO ASPnet UK and partners across the U.K and globally. Seeds of Hope has connected partners through collaboration on projects and has grown in the past year. One of the projects highlighted was the Lights Camera Score programme in schools, which is now working on an exciting project with Calderdale Council and the English Chamber Orchestra, which will showcase this August at Shibden House. As we enter the second year of the competition, it was encouraging to discover how much interest there is from writers, producers, educators and creatives who are asking the same question: How can we help young people imagine and create a better future? What struck me most throughout the conference was the intention behind the conversations. Rather than assuming what young people need, there was a genuine desire to listen, understand and create media that reflects their lives, their challenges and their aspirations. One of the most thought-provoking sessions gave the microphone to young people themselves. They were asked about the proposed social media ban for under-16s, and their responses were refreshingly honest. Their message was clear: they believed the ban would be difficult to enforce because young people would inevitably find ways around it. Instead of excluding them from digital spaces, they argued that our focus should be on making those spaces safer and on helping young people develop the skills they need to navigate an increasingly digital world. One comment in particular stayed with me. A young panellist admitted, “Yes, it’s true I spend too much time on social media but so do all of you adults in the room.” The audience responded with warm applause. It was a reminder that young people notice the contradictions in the messages they receive, and that meaningful dialogue begins with honesty rather than judgement. That session reinforced something I have long believed: if we are serious about shaping the future, we must involve the people who will inherit it. Too often, decisions are made about young people rather than with them. Yet when we create opportunities for them to share their ideas, they offer thoughtful, creative and practical perspectives that deserve to be heard. That spirit resonates deeply with the values behind Seeds of Hope for a Better Future. The competition is built on a simple but powerful belief: when children and young people are allowed to express their ideas through creativity, they do more than imagine change; they begin to shape it. Over the past two years we have seen young people respond with imagination, compassion and practical solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges. Their artwork, writing, films and performances remind us that hope is not passive; it is something we nurture through creativity, collaboration and action. I left Sheffield feeling optimistic. Not because all the answers exist, but because I met so many talented people committed to listening to young voices and working alongside them. The enthusiasm shown for Seeds of Hope for a Better Future affirmed that there is a growing movement of educators, creatives and media professionals who believe children and young people should not only be represented in stories but also help shape them. Perhaps that is what being a local hero is really about. It is not about having all the answers. It is about creating the conditions for others to flourish, listening with curiosity and planting seeds of hope that will continue to grow long after the conversation has ended. You can follow the journeys below: https://www.stageatthelake.co.uk/seeds-of-hope https://threestonesmedia.co.uk/blog/portfolio-item/lights-camera-score/ Entries for Seeds of Hope for a Better Future for 2026 have closed, and we will be back again next year: https://unesco.org.uk/ For inspiration, you might like to have a look at the 2025 Winners: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bb8PJS5j7k Ann Beatty UNESCO ASPnet Coordinator UK CEO, The Steve Sinnott Foundation Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!): https://uppbeat.io/t/roo-walker/over-the-horizon License code: ZFK6D180PHNWXSYQ

Report on the GTU/Steve Sinnott Foundation Community Sensitisation on School related Gender Based Violence - June 2026

By Marie Antoinette Corr • June 10, 2026
1. Background and Rationale In The Gambia, school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) remains a serious barrier to education. Girls are most at risk, though boys can be targeted too and human rights organisations increasingly recognise poverty itself as a form of structural gender-based violence. Period poverty - the lack of access to menstrual products, education, and sanitation sits at the heart of this problem. Without safe facilities or affordable pads, many women and girls are pushed into transactional sex just to manage their periods, exposing them to serious risk of physical and sexual assault. Even without that direct danger, period poverty quietly excludes girls from school and public life: missing class due to a lack of pads or poor toilet facilities fuels absenteeism, dropout, low self-esteem, and often early marriage, deepening cycles of poverty. This is a global crisis hiding in plain sight. An estimated 500 million of the 800 million people who menstruate worldwide struggle to afford period products, and nearly 1 in 4 students faces the same barrier. A burden that falls hardest on the already marginalised. In The Gambia, girls who can't afford sanitary pads often face poor academic performance, truancy, and lasting health and psychological effects. A lack of education around menstruation breeds stigma around something entirely normal and healthy. That's why community sensitisation is so critical. Breaking the taboo helps reframe menstrual products as necessities, not luxuries, and gives women and girls the tools to manage their health with dignity, including safe alternatives like reusable pads where commercial products aren't accessible. Training women to sew their own reusable pads goes further still, building not just access but autonomy and confidence. With GBV cases rising in both schools and communities, the need for coordinated action has never been more urgent. Tackling SRGBV and period poverty specifically isn't the job of one institution alone; it requires educators, communities, and stakeholders working together toward one goal: menstrual dignity and bodily autonomy for every woman and girl. In response, the Gambia Teachers Union, with funding from the Steve Sinnott Foundation, held three community sensitisation sessions on SRGBV and period poverty from 5–7 June 2026. Sessions included demonstrations on making reusable sanitary pads and distributed materials for step-down training in schools and communities. A total of 312 participants, including school mothers' clubs, community and religious leaders, and traditional communicators, attended across three venues: Farafenni Community Centre, Brikamaba Senior Secondary School Hall, and the Regional Education Directorate 4 (Mansakonko) Conference Hall. 2. Objectives Sensitise stakeholders on SRGBV and its impact on girls Offer a durable alternative to costly disposables, easing pressure on family budgets Improve hygiene and health to prevent infection Build community skills to make affordable, sustainable products like reusable pads Promote safe, inclusive school environments Break stigma through community-wide education Establish safe, confidential reporting pathways beyond traditional barriers Challenge harmful norms, victim-blaming, and cultures of silence Unite Mothers' Clubs and female teachers, leveraging their social and structural influence Build peer support networks with access to trusted adults for emotional support Expand access to menstrual products and champion menstrual equity The sensitisation was on Promote safe menstrual practices to prevent infections from unhygienic alternatives (rags, tissue, leaves, etc.) Teach private, hygienic methods for changing, washing, and drying Train girls and women to produce eco-friendly reusable pads from local materials Establish community-led pad banks and income-generating sewing groups for women Address the reality that girls miss 5 school days a month due to lack of pads or fear of leakage and bullying Level the academic playing field by reducing dropout gaps between boys and girls Shift community narratives to remove taboos and myths around menstruation Engage boys and men to build empathy and normalise periods as a shared, natural issue, not a "women's burden" The sessions were highly participatory, allowing teachers to share experiences, raise concerns, and explore context-specific solutions. Training on period poverty alleviation is critical because it empowers communities, breaks dangerous taboos, and tackles the economic, health and educational barriers associated with menstruation. By building local capacity, it creates sustainable long-term solutions. Participants were happy about the training and committed to conducting step-down trainings for other Mothers' Clubs and adolescent girls in their schools. Participants were given sets of materials to start with. The pads will help girls have a reliable and sustainable solution to their menstrual worries, hence enabling them to avoid infections, exploitation, shame, low self-esteem, stress, and they will remain in school Materials for Distribution

In Harmony With Peace Concert

By Ann Beatty • June 1, 2026
On Friday evening ( 29 May, 7.00 pm The Actors Church Covent Garden) we had the pleasure of listening to this very special concert, bringing together the Choir of King's College London and the Princeton High School Orchestra in a celebration of international friendship, collaboration, and shared values. This project reflects a commitment to peace, sustainability, equality, and cultural exchange, uniting young musicians from the United Kingdom and the United States through the universal language of music.