How access to water affects period equity
Did you know that 35% of menstruators globally lack access to what they need for a safe and healthy period?
2.5 Billion people lack access to clean water
Imagine this: You wake up in the morning, walk into the bathroom and turn on the faucet. Not so hard to picture, is it? If that’s your reality, then you’re part of the ⅔ of the world that has access to clean water. Sadly, the other ⅓ of our global neighbors live without access to clean water—that’s over 2.5 billion people.
Water access is vital to women’s progress
The old adage, “water is life,” is not only true, it’s also vital to women’s progress. As females make up 49.7% of the world’s population, that means 1.25 billion of those that lack access to clean water are female. Access to clean water is so crucial to female health and wellness that the UN SDG 6.2 directly ties access to clean water with gender equality (SDG 5). You can read more about SGD 6.2 here.
Women and girls disproportionately bear the burden of collecting water for their households and are exposed to increased danger of sexual assault when needing to use shared sanitation facilities or when they lack sanitation facilities altogether. For those of menstruating age, additional barriers to societal participation and equity are encountered. In many rural areas in under-developed countries, cultural stigmas perpetuate ideas that menstruation is unclean and shameful.
Without access to facilities to clean themselves, period care products, or latrines with safety and privacy, women and girls have to make compromising health choices to care for themselves during menstruation. For many girls, this means not being able to attend school, and quickly falling behind.
At Saalt, we recognize the crucial connection between clean water sources and women’s equality and know that reusable period care products are one of the best ways to fill the hygiene gap.
Four latrines in Uganda
But we don’t stop there. This MHM marks the 5th year anniversary of our support for the building of our first latrine for a rural school in Uganda with our Impact Partner Dreams of the Tropical Youth (DROTY). Before this facility’s construction, the closest water source was 7 kilometers away (4.3 miles). Now, in 2024, Saalt has funded the construction of four latrines, four hand washing stations, and four incinerators to properly dispose of non-reusable period products. 
New borehole in Nigeria
In 2022, Saalt supported the efforts of Nigerian non-profit Flo Haven to dig a borehole, providing clean water to thousands of people in the Agege community of Lagos state. Boreholes are narrow shafts that are drilled deep into the earth to access clean groundwater that can provide communities with over 4,000 gallons of clean water per day!
Without access to clean water, period poverty cannot be addressed. We are passionate about continuing these efforts. This Menstrual Hygiene Day, we ask that you consider what can be done to not only support period equity for our global neighbors but to promote access to clean water. The two are inextricably linked. Take a look at the amazing work of some of the organizations taking action below and know that your support for Saalt ensures our ability to support the work to end period poverty with holistic hygiene solutions.
