Lately the news coming from Somalia seem to be full of hunger and suffering. Therefore it is nice when the Guardian writes about a project in the town of Galkayo, which is helping to change the lives of young women for the better. The project which was started in 2009 by the Galkayo Education Centre for Peace and Development and is supported by the UNHCR and Unicef, employs young women to sew sanitary pads from locally sourced materials. 60 women aged between 16 to 22 are now employed within the project, earning a salary of 150 dollars per month which is enough to support a family. Most of these women are internally displaced and without the help of the project, it is unlikely that they would have been able to find jobs.

The sanitary pads produced are distributed with the help of the UNHCR and Unicef to girls in local schools and refugee camps. Before GECPD started the project, lack of availability of sanitary pads and the embarrasment still related to the subject meant many girls would skip school during their periods and fall behind in their studies. Some would even find the situation so unbearable that they chose to drop out of school altogether. The sanitary pads distributed through the project now enable girls to stay in school even during their periods.

Eventhough this project is small-scale, it is transforming the lives of the women involved in it and it is a perfect example of a development project which truly responds to the needs of the local community.

Kati Moring, BA, SOAS