Committee name: UN Women

Sponsors: Federative Republic of Brazil, Nippon-koku, Republic of the Philippines.

Signatories: Federative Republic of Brazil, Nippon-koku, Republic of the Philippines,
Kongeriget Danmark, Malaysia,Canadá, Kingdom of Sweden Kongeriget Sverige, Federal
Republic of Germany, Indian Republic, Kingdom of Morocco, Republic of Norway.
Topic: Access to free menstrual products and menstrual justice

United Nations Women,

Keeping in mind that UN Women is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and
the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was
established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide,

Affirming menstruation is a “natural vaginal bleeding part of a healthy monthly cycle for a
person with a uterus and ovaries”, these series of changes occur in preparation for pregnancy. If
pregnancy doesn’t take place “the uterus sheds its lining and it’s passed, along with some blood,
out of the body through the vagina”. The time between periods typically averages 28 days, with
bleeding typically lasting around 4 to 5 days. Periods usually start around age 12 and continue
until menopause, around age 51, which represents the figure that on average,the average of
mentrual cycle is 24 to 38 days,and it lasts about 4-8 days. a woman needs around 200 products
per year, which produces around 420 tons of waste annually.

Aware that 26% of the world's population is of reproductive age, that is around 1.8 billion people
across the world menstruate and millions of these people are unable to manage their menstrual
cycle in a healthy way. Feminine hygiene products are designed for feminine hygiene in
connection with the human menstrual cycle, meaning tampons, panty liners, menstrual cups,
sanitary napkins, and other similar tangible personal property. Many people feel limited when
they are menstruating, especially those of low resources that cannot afford worthy menstrual
products. Globally, around 500 million people do not have the means to afford menstrual
products. Due to the high price and tax of these products, in the western world, the average
person who menstruates spends about 1,773 dollars on period products in their lifetime.
Menstrual health is directly related to human dignity. If a person cannot access safe and healthy
resources for their period, they are not able to function as a working society member. This does
not only affect their physical wellbeing but their mental state too. This being said, it is very
apparent that menstrual products are a necessity and not a luxury.

​Desiring to encourage to fight “period poverty” globally, in order to eliminate the stigma over
menstruation, motivate the implementation and development of menstrual education and
sensibilization, and making easier the access to the necessary facilitations to promote hygiene in
every menstrual cycle. Too much is spent on feminine hygiene products, especially considering
that sex is not chosen before born, therefore, no choice is made to have the period or not. And, in
any case, products that cover a physiological need should count as a basic necessity item and
have the corresponding tax, it’s not a luxury.
Deeply concerned by the consequences of period poverty and the period taboo on a global scale
and its consequences on livelihood and education. Given the ignorance and misinformation, the
menstrual period is a taboo subject, which is not openly discussed, especially among men. So,
considering that men constitute the majority of world leaders, menstrual health has been left out
of public policies, plans and budgets. In this way, the imbalance of political power that exists
between genders in decision-making has led to inequalities in access to monetary resources and
education on this subject. In many cultures, menstruating women are considered impure and are
systematically excluded from participating in every-day activities; such as education,
employment, and cultural and religious practices. Moreover, the taboos and stigmas attached to
menstruation lead to an overall culture of silence around the topic, resulting in limited
information on menstruation and menstrual hygiene. Such misinformation can have ramifications
on the health and dignity of girls and women. It is also known that the inability to handle
menstrual menses in public spaces such as school, can result in school absenteeism, which
forward represents severe economic costs on their lives and on their country.These taboos affect
millions of people around the world, ​as an apparent example, 86% of women have had the
experience of becoming their period unexpectedly at school and not having products available to
be comfortable. This causes big discomfort and a big problem. 34% of these women needed to
go home to get the resources that they needed.This experiences may affect their mental health on
a big scale. Analyze the viability of the bill, Menstrual Equity For All Act of 2019, sponsored by
Rep. Grace Meng, which was introduced on March 26, 2019, but never received a vote. There is
no good reason why this bill allows womens free access to menstrual hygiene products. Free
feminine products at schools and universities. Access to free supplies would help to alleviate
some of the economic strain having a period provides. Lack of access to menstrual supplies can
have an impact on education. Without access to supplies, students often miss class or do not
participate as vigorously for fear of leakage and embarrassment.

Taking into consideration the role the lack of access to proper hygiene and sanitation facilities
have on the disposal of menstrual products and the hygiene of people who menstruate.
Inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene facilities, can pose a major obstacle to those who
menstruate. At least 500 million women and girls globally lack adequate facilities for menstrual
hygiene management.

Having examined the previous statements the signatories of this resolution have agreed to the
following;
1) Requests the support of existing NGOs, IGOs, and foundations who provide services that
reduce period poverty, these organizations may be international, work within a set
number of countries or an individual country.
a) Considers organizations such as: UNFPA -The United Nations Populations Fund
UNICEF, PERIOD, Freedom4Girls, The Pad Project along with others,
b) The services provided by theses organizations could be but are not limited to the
following; providing dignity kits, improving hygiene facilities, making menstrual
products readily available in schools, improving menstrual literacy, teaching
programmes to make reusable pads,

2) Seeks to improve sanitation facilities involved in the promotion and encouragement of

hygienic menstrual cycles, such as water and waste management facilities, in order to
eliminate any non hygienic action regarding menstrual products, and improve
menstruators health.
a) Implement water facilities in the locations that lack these equipment with support
of the Blue Helmets and volunteers.
b)

3) Encourages other delegations to eliminate the tampon tax applied to the menstrual
products such as sanitary pads and tampons.
a) Emphasizes them as essential products, not as luxury products and therefore
applying for of taxes in order to make them accessible for the worldwide women
and cease period poverty,
b) Endorses for the delegations that cannot remove at all the taxes, the percentage
of them on actual luxury products such as alcohol and tobacco.

4) Encourages the delegations to promote reusable menstrual pads, these products can be
used 300 times contribute to minimize the waste created by disposables
a) Further reminds the collaboration of nations with NGOS such as Days for girls,
Dignity period, among others, specialized in production, distribution and
education abou reusable menstrual products,

5) Exhorts the signatories' delegations to promote menstrual education and sensibilization

over their education system, in order to encourage not only girls and women, but also any
other individual who doesn’t menstruate for the sake of contributing to the elimination of
the stigma and taboos over this physical cycle.
a) Encouraging the implementation of menstrual education and sensibilization since
elementary school in the delegations educational system.
b) Eliminating religious concerns over menstruation in public education.
 c) Promoting menstrual justice through constant scholar campaigns.

6) Encourages public, as well as private educational institutions to implement free and

accessible period products that are available at all times and bathrooms.
a) Taking into consideration that the funds to achieve this can be reached through
government funding, public and private donations and projects that have as a goal
this availability in schools.

7) Calls upon the access of menstrual products for people living in poverty, having
considered that 3.4 billion people, nearly half the world’s population, lives in poverty,
and 689 million people live in extreme poverty, the ready access to menstrual products in
accessible public buildings

Without anything more to ask, the committee appreciates the time and consideration of the
participants.

Participants:
María Fernanda Franco Aguilar
Fernanda Reyes T.
Jimena Sandoval
Jimena Gutierrez Nieva
María Fernanda Camacho
Louisa Caballero
Mariano López
Alondra Marisa Cabello Valverde
María José Montoya
Natalia Ogando
Regina Herrera
Maximiliano Valdés
Madeleine Clark