MENstruation Foundation Launches Padco to End Period Poverty in South Africa

In a bold and history-making step towards eradicating period poverty in South Africa, the MENstruation Foundation has officially launched Padco, its own sanitary pad manufacturing facility.

This sustainable initiative ensures that no girl or woman misses school, work, or life because of her period.

Co-founded by South African changemakers Siv Ngesi and Marius Basson, the Foundation was born from a shared mission to restore dignity and opportunity to girls without access to menstrual products.

What began as a wedding conversation — and a birthday phone call on Marius’s daughter Katelyn’s 8th birthday — has grown into a national movement with one goal: end period poverty.

“This is not just a women’s issue — it’s a human issue,” says Ngesi. “We built Padco and created the Agojie Pad to make a sustainable, long-term impact. We won’t stop until period poverty is history.”

Through its Sanitary Pad Dispensing Machine Project, the Foundation installs custom vending machines in schools and communities, providing girls with one free pack of high-quality pads every month — discreetly and with dignity.

Locally produced at Padco, the Agojie Pad is designed for comfort and protection, named after the legendary all-female Agojie warriors of Dahomey.

Padco’s sustainable model includes manufacturing pads for the dispenser programme, selling Agojie Pads in retail, and offering white-label production to support other brands and community initiatives.

With over 7 million girls and women in South Africa missing up to 240 million school days each year due to lack of access to menstrual products, the Foundation is tackling not only a health issue but also an education and gender equality crisis.

“No stigma. No shame. No missed opportunity,” says the team. “Every girl deserves the freedom to live, learn, and lead — every day of the month.”

For more information or to partner, visit www.menstruation.foundation.