Question reference: S5W-00274
- Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 26 May 2016
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Current status: Answered by Alasdair Allan on 6 June 2016
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how its international development programme can help girls and young women in the developing world access the information and products that they need to effectively manage their periods.
Answer
<>The Scottish Government's £9 million per annum International Development Fund currently supports projects in our seven priority countries of Malawi, Zambia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Pakistan, Bangladesh and the three poorest states in India. These projects cover a range of themes, including water, sanitation, health and education and many of the projects have a strong emphasis on women and girls. For example since 2013, the Scottish Government has funded Opportunity International to deliver a project in Bihar, India called 'Empowering communities for water, sanitation, hygiene (WASH) and clean energy'. This project has helped to build healthier communities, by training local women as community health facilitators in gender-sensitive health, hygiene and nutrition, and enable them to educate their own communities providing them with knowledge and financial tools to access health-related services and products including menstrual products.