Gender Equality Morocco Project #44759

Stop Period Poverty for Girls in Morocco

by Project Soar

Project Report | Jun 13, 2022
Project Soar & UNFPA Morocco fight period poverty

By Victoria Di Gaetano | Communications Assistant

Director Maryam Montague on Menstrual Hygiene Day

Dear Friends,

Project Soar is sending gratitude to You, for your continued support.

Did you know that May 28th is Menstrual Hygiene Day? This internationally recognized day was introduced in 2014 and celebrated for the first time in Morocco in 2021 through Project Soar's partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Morocco. This year on May 28th Menstrual Hygiene Day, the National Council for Human Rights (CNDH), the UNFPA Morocco and Project Soar organised a workshop under the theme: “Equality, right to sexual and reproductive health and well being of women and girls.” Mr. Mora, the UNFPA representative in Morocco, Amina Bouayach, CNDH president, and our very own Founder and Executive Director Maryam Montague discussed how our three organizations can work together to fully realize the rights of teen girls in Morocco, especially related to health services and menstrual hygiene management. The main objective of the workshop was to highlight the difficulties surrounding menstruation that undermine the rights of women and girls, especially the most marginalized ones that we serve through the Soar program.

Today, Morocco has 3 million teen girls and young women, more than half of whom have reported being shocked by the onset of their first menstrual period. But the lack of knowledge about menstrual health is not the only challenge teen girls are facing: it is the stigma and preconceived notions surrounding the issue that risk excluding girls from public spaces. Taboos and false beliefs create an environment where women and girls are deprived of a basic right: to ensure their hygiene and health. Infection risks become considerable. The lack of access to menstrual hygiene products and the absence of safe and private sanitation facilities in schools can lead the most vulnerable among these teen girls to drop out of school, putting them at risk of child marriage and early pregnancy.

Since the beginning of 2022, thanks to your support, we have provided 978 BeGirl Menstrual Kits to teen girls living in 21 disadvantaged communities across Morocco. In total, your support has allowed us to provide 3,162 period kits to 1,500+ girls since we launched this campaign in 2020. That is why we are raising our project goal to prepare for our next cohort of Soar Girls this fall. Living on less than $1/day on average, Soar Girls are not always able to afford menstrual products, which jeopardizes their attendance in school. Our solution provides period-positive menstrual education and 2 kits per girl that aid menstrual management worry-free for up to 3 years.

Thank you for your continued commitment to helping fight period poverty one menstrual kit at a time!

Sincerely,

The Project Soar Team

Facilitators in Fes lead the menstrual ed workshop

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Feb 14, 2022
"My Body is a Gift" : Overcoming Period Shame through Period Positivity

By Tess Dunn | Program Manager

Soar Girls learn about their period underwear

Hello Friends,

As always, we are sending gratitude to you, our supporters! With your contribution to the GlobalGiving Stop Period Poverty project, Project Soar can provide eco-friendly, shame free, hygenic period supplies to Soar Girls across Morocco. We are excited to report that Project Soar has provided more than 650 Girls so far this year with period supplies that help them gain confidence and stay in school.

While the Project Soar in a Box program works to empower teen girls through Empowerment Workshops covering their Value, Voice, Body, Rights, and Path, a crucial piece of this empowerment is ensuring that every Soar Girl is knowledgeable about her menstrual cycle and is able to manage her menstruation effectively. In line with this goal, the Project Soar in a Box Empowerment Curriculum contains the Body Module, including six Empowerment Workshops covering topics such as physical health, mental health, puberty, and period positivity. We are pleased to say that we have seen a huge improvement with this years' Soar Girls in relation to knowledge on their bodies as a result of these workshops. According to data collected, prior to the start of the Body Module, 92.8% of Soar Girls had a "Moderate" or lower understanding of their bodies. However after completion of the Body Module, 98.18% of these same Soar Girls reported a "High" to "Very High" level of understanding of their bodies.

Soar Girl Hind told Project Soar of her new found period positivity: "Before [the Body Module], I had this negative idea that I, as a girl, was deficient, as this is what society says. But after finishing [the Body Module], I learned that girls are beautiful and we deserve everything that is beautiful. More than that, I learned my body is a gift and I should work to always take care of it." Furthermore, Soar Girl Alham talked about the more practical impact the Body Module made on her life, letting us know that she now has "less stress during her period," and she now "feels clean during her period because of the Be Girl [period underwear]" Project Soar provides.

We want to thank you for helping Project Soar Girls to gain access to the supplies and knowledge they need to overcome period poverty and its various negative side effects. By supporting this campaign you are helping girls overcome these challenges. Never doubt you are making a difference!

Warmest wishes,

The Project Soar Team

Soar Girls unwrap their Be Girl period underwear

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Oct 20, 2021
From Period Poverty to Period Power

By Lela Macaire | Special Programs Assistant

Boxes full of BeGirl period underwear for PS Girls

Hello Friends!

As always, we are sending gratitude to you, our supporters!

We are very excited for a new year of our signature Empowerment Program, Project Soar in a Box, to be underway at our sites across Morocco. One of the aims of this program is to ensure that every Project Soar Girl is knowledgeable about her menstrual cycle and able to manage her menstruation effectively. In line with this goal, the Project Soar in a Box Empowerment Curriculum contains a module focused on the body, including a workshop focused exclusively on menstrual health. Additionally, each squad of girls receives a supply of sustainable, reusable BeGirl period underwear. The workshops, paired with these supplies, provide Project Soar Girls with the knowledge and tools necessary for them to become confident in their control over their menstruation.

Thanks to the generous contributions of donors like you who support our GlobalGiving Period Poverty Campaign, our team has sent over 1,100 pairs of BeGirl period underwear to sites across Morocco in time for the start of the 2021/2022 Program year.

Project Soar strives to make sure that no Girl’s wellbeing, physical or mental, or access to education is compromised by a lack of knowledge on menstruation or lack of supplies to manage her period with confidence. We believe that period poverty should never stand in the way of a girl carrying out her daily life and we love that BeGirl period underwear is eco-friendly and shame-free.

At Project Soar, these ideals have been translated into concrete change. This can be seen in the data collected both before and after the program through our baseline and endline surveys. Based on these surveys, upon completion of the program:

over 95% of Girls feel that they have the supplies they need to handle their periods in a clean and healthy manner, an increase of 26% and;
over 96% of Girls feel that they know how to handle their period when it comes, an increase of 30%.

This demonstrates how the Project Soar solution truly has an impact on countering period poverty and increasing girls’ confidence.

We want to thank you for enabling a new cohort of Project Soar Girls to gain access to the supplies they need to overcome period poverty and its various negative side effects. Period poverty can affect girls’ access to education, mental wellbeing, and risks of child marriage and early pregnancy. By supporting this campaign you are helping girls overcome these challenges. Never doubt you are making a difference!

Warmest wishes,

The Project Soar Team

Coordinators celebrate BeGirl underwear shipment

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