{"id":1031,"date":"2023-01-26T16:16:52","date_gmt":"2023-01-26T16:16:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/queenscommonwealthtrust.org\/?post_type=project&#038;p=1031"},"modified":"2025-06-27T05:39:00","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T05:39:00","slug":"investing-in-girls-education-in-africa-igea-promoting-equal-education-access-and-ending-period-poverty","status":"publish","type":"project","link":"https:\/\/queenscommonwealthtrust.org\/projects\/investing-in-girls-education-in-africa-igea-promoting-equal-education-access-and-ending-period-poverty\/","title":{"rendered":"Investing in Girls Education in Africa (IGEA) &#8211; removing barriers to quality education for girls in rural Ghana"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Girls in rural Ghana are usually forced to miss school about 5 days every month because they can&#8217;t afford basic menstrual hygiene products. This negatively affects their self-confidence and performance in school.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarah Boateng lived in a village in Ghana where she witnessed the challenges girls faced in accessing affordable menstrual hygiene products. She founded IGEA to eradicate menstrual poverty and promote equal access to education for girls in rural Ghana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cQuality education can make a&nbsp;long-term&nbsp;impact on a community and girls should not be left behind.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sarah Boateng<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Investing in Girls Education in Africa (IGEA) advocates for investment in quality education for girls living in rural Ghana. Through the Menstruate and Educate&nbsp;Programme, IGEA has been working with schools in Bolgatanga, Northern Ghana distributing&nbsp;reusable&nbsp;sanitary pads and reading materials on menstrual hygiene to girls. IGEA also engages parents, teachers and community leaders through workshops on menstruation and related taboos, as well as addressing the importance of girls\u2019 education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1156\" height=\"723\" src=\"https:\/\/queenscommonwealthtrust.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/IGEA-edited.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1079\" srcset=\"https:\/\/queenscommonwealthtrust.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/IGEA-edited.png 1156w, https:\/\/queenscommonwealthtrust.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/IGEA-edited-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/queenscommonwealthtrust.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/IGEA-edited-1024x640.png 1024w, https:\/\/queenscommonwealthtrust.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/IGEA-edited-768x480.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1156px) 100vw, 1156px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">IGEA engages with parents, teachers, and community leaders through workshops around menstruation and taboos as well as the importance of girls\u2019 education.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>IGEA is among nineteen other organisations that are currently enrolled on the Youth Ventures Programme (YVP). Through the YVP, QECT provides youth-led organisations with flexible funding, practical tools and technical support, and access to a global network of young leaders for 2+ years.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>With QECT\u2019s support since March 2022 IGEA has been able to:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>IGEA has been able to:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Acquire and distribute over 3500 reusable pads reducing monthly school absenteeism from 5 to 2 days for 1160+ girls in rural Ghana<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sensitise over 650 parents and teachers on prohibitive cultural taboos around menstrual health<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Train 12 women to produce reusable pads, creating an additional income stream for them<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>\u201cResources provided by QECT including\u00a0BetterUp\u00a0coaching, and trainings\u00a0have helped me in becoming a better young leader.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<cite>Sarah Boateng<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Future work supported by QECT in 2023:\u00a0<\/strong>\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>IGEA aims to train more women to produce the reusable sanitary&nbsp;pads&nbsp;and stock them in local stores.&nbsp;IGEA will further enhance trained&nbsp;women\u2019s entrepreneurship skills to increase sales and revenues from&nbsp;reusable sanitary pads.\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Girls in rural Ghana are usually forced to miss school about 5 days every month because they can&#8217;t afford basic menstrual hygiene products. This negatively affects their self-confidence and performance in school.&nbsp; Sarah Boateng lived in a village in Ghana where she witnessed the challenges girls faced in accessing affordable menstrual hygiene products. She founded [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1079,"template":"","project-categories":[13],"class_list":["post-1031","project","type-project","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","project-categories-education-and-employability"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Investing in Girls Education in Africa (IGEA) - removing barriers to quality education for girls in rural Ghana | Queens Commonwealth Trust<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/queenscommonwealthtrust.org\/projects\/investing-in-girls-education-in-africa-igea-promoting-equal-education-access-and-ending-period-poverty\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Investing in Girls Education in Africa (IGEA) - removing barriers to quality education for girls in rural Ghana | Queens Commonwealth Trust\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Girls in rural Ghana are usually forced to miss school about 5 days every month because they can&#8217;t afford basic menstrual hygiene products. 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