Positive Periods Enable Education
Girls all around the world are missing a quarter of their school days because of a natural bodily function called menstruation or periods.
It’s often a taboo subject, with shame and stigma attached, and many have no method of managing it. Without access to education and safe period products women are forced to use unhygienic methods that can cause infection.
Many women and girls cannot afford to buy period products, and even when these are given for free, in some parts of the world, there is often no good way to dispose of the products after use.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
The Steve Sinnott Foundation works with people to build local solutions that respect their culture and desires and that are owned and managed by them so that they will work long term.
Our positive periods program is sustainable. Women learn to make their own sanitary pads with locally sourced and affordable materials, alongside investing in health education and skills enables women to manage their periods with dignity and pride.
Our solution has no waste products, it is long lasting, and is eco-friendly. Reusable pads done the right way, are a tried and tested method respecting the differences in each country.
We enable people rather than creating dependence on costly products that clog up the environment. Women teach other women, men teach their sisters, we all teach each other, we are starting a movement, and we are asking you to join it.
There are 10 benefits to our Positive Periods Program:
1. MISSING SCHOOL - Girls will no longer miss a quarter of their school days. This will have a massive impact on their education and thus on their future prospects.
2. SHAME - It will no longer be a taboo subject, with shame and stigma attached. This will allow girls and women to have dignity and pride in their bodies.
3. HEALTH - Hygiene will be improved and infection can be avoided. This will improve women’s health and longevity.
4. ECO-FRIENDLY – They are made of recycled materials, they are re-usable, there is no waste (unlike the disposable sanitary pads that clog up the environment and cause pollution)
5. SUSTAINABLE – The program is based on education, it’s designed to be spread and the knowledge shared so that there is a wave of change.
6. COST - These pads are low cost, and can be made from materials women already have. They can also make pads to sell to others, thus creating an income from them.
7. LOCAL – Each program respects the locale that it is delivered, taking into account the local culture, local materials, local concerns and is delivered by local people. This means that it’s owned by the community.
8. ADAPTABLE - It’s not a one size fits all programme, there are different templates to use, different body shapes to respect, different spaces to teach it in, different equipment to use, and different words to describe a period.
9. COMFORTABLE – The pads have to be comfortable so that women can get on with their day. They have to work with the clothes different women wear and keep them looking good.
10. FUN – Periods don’t have to be boring, even the pads can be made to look nice, and making them together is a fun crafting session for women to talk and laugh together about being women (and often we include men too).
Our vision for Positive Periods is this:
Now girls are able to go to school. Women are talking to each other. Periods are not a taboo, they are a natural and necessary function. Women and men are sharing this program and teaching others.
With your help this programme can be sown in over 10 different countries, it will grow and spread and it will enable girls to go back to school, and women to take control of their lives.
This is Development at its best, women and men working in solidarity! How does it make you feel knowing that you are part of a new, sustainable movement, making periods positive and women free?
We need you to make this happen. So we are asking you to Donate NOW.
Go with the flow.
The Steve Sinnott Foundation • December 1, 2020
In my time as an assistant at The Steve Sinnott Foundation (SSF), one of my research tasks was looking into how the Foundation contributed to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). I really believe in the work of the Foundation and I have also been raising funds as I believe that every child must have the right to education. SSF is a UK-based educational charity focused on promoting quality education worldwide. It plays a supportive role in achieving the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially Goal 4: (Quality Education), but its work contributes to several others as well. Here's how the Foundation supports the SDGs: Goal 4 – Quality education (core focus) The Foundation's main mission is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. It supports teachers and educational initiatives in developing countries. It runs programmes like: The Education for All Campaign – advocating for universal access to education. Teacher empowerment projects – providing training and resources to educators in under-resourced countries. Girls' education programmes – encouraging and supporting girls to stay in school and complete their education. Goal 3 – Good health and well-being Through education, particularly health-related programmes, the Foundation contributes to raising awareness about hygiene, nutrition, and mental health. The Foundation has developed a range of webinars to promote health and wellbeing and these can be found on YouTube. Goal 5 – Gender equality The Foundation promotes girls' education, directly addressing barriers that prevent girls from accessing and completing school. It advocates for the rights of women and girls, especially in patriarchal or disadvantaged societies. Goal 8 – Decent work and economic growth By improving access to education and vocational training, the Foundation helps create employment opportunities. Educated individuals have better chances of securing decent work. Goal 10 – Reduced inequalities It supports marginalised groups, including children in rural or conflict-affected areas, contributing to reducing global inequalities in education. Goal 16 – Peace, justice and strong institutions Promotes education as a force for peace and conflict resolution. Supports democratic participation and awareness through educational programmes that foster community engagement. Goal 17 – Partnerships for the goals Collaborates with NGOs, unions, schools, and governments to deliver and advocate for education projects. Builds international partnerships to achieve the SDGs through education. Summary While The Steve Sinnott Foundation's primary focus is on Goal 4, it contributes to many of the SDGs by empowering communities through education, particularly: Gender equality (Goal 5), Health (Goal 3), Economic growth (Goal 8), Reducing inequality (Goal 10), Peace (Goal 16), and Partnerships (Goal 17). The Foundation’s programmes also contribute to the achievement of other SDGs through the power of the provision of education and life-long learning; 1. No Poverty, 2. Zero Hunger, 13. Climate Action. We believe that all of the 17 SDGs are only achievable by ensuring that all children, wherever they are born, deserve the human right of quality education. Over 250 million children are still out of school and the global out-of-school population has reduced by only 1% in nearly ten years, according to the UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report 2024. There is still much work to do in achieving equitable and quality Education for All.
As the founding Headteacher of two start-up schools in Oxfordshire, one primary and one secondary, we spent a lot of time thinking about our new schools’ vision, mission and values. We were deeply committed to becoming values-based educational settings. We also did a lot of work on our global citizenship curriculum which formally brought together all of the loose threads in what Dr Neil Hawkes calls the ‘inner curriculum’. Working towards UNICEF’s Rights Respecting School Award to demonstrate our intentional teaching of the UN’s SDGs was a fundamental part of our commitment to our school communities. When I left headship to move #DiverseEd from being a grassroots community to iterating into Diverse Educators, a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) training and consultancy organisation, I thought once again about how our work supported the education system in working towards the SDGs and we outlined them here: www.thebelongingeffect.co.uk/the-sustainable-development-goals Five years on, we have just gone through a re-brand, and we are now called the Belonging Effect. For me the strategic intention we take towards developing consciousness, confidence and competence in DEIB must be actionable and must have impact. So our renewed mission is ‘shaping intention into impact’
Summer of 2025, I volunteered in Lusaka, Zambia with Mission Direct to improve educational facilities for school children and staff. These nursery school children live in very basic and small homes in the Kaunda Square Compound. They are currently being educated in overcrowded classrooms with very little space for play and movement. The new school building will allow more children to benefit from an enriching nursery education and ensure that they are ready to learn when they start their formal schooling at the age of six. It will also enable more mothers to work and contribute to their families’ income. The children were very happy to meet us and performed a wonderful song with actions to thank us. Witnessing the challenges of these families living in poverty led me to reflect on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that finding a route out of poverty (SDG1) often starts with a quality education (SDG4). Educating children to become literate, numerate and confident, responsible young people allows them to obtain secure employment with fair pay and to have the prospect of rewarding careers, leading to economic growth (SDG8). Of course education is about so much more than preparation for future employment. An educated person is better prepared to maintain the health and well-being of their family (SDG3) and ensure that nourishing food is provided everyday (SDG2). We are disappointed and saddened to learn that some of the world’s wealthiest nations are slashing their overseas development budgets. This makes the work of NGOs even more vital as they strive to reduce inequalities (SDGs 5 and 10) to ensure that all children benefit from a quality education.
