During its participation in the Global Social and Solidarity Economy Forum in Dakar in early May 2023, GRET presented its Dignity & Health project, aimed at fighting period poverty and developing women’s entrepreneurship. Its teams are supporting two women’s cooperatives in Senegal and Burkina Faso to design and produce reusable sanitary towels made from organic cotton, and to market them at affordable prices. The forum provided an opportunity for the women from the Bani Israël group, which produces and sells sanitary towels under the Fantaa brand in Senegal, to communicate with the general public.Aïssatou Sy, project manager at GRET Senegal, has been supporting the Fantaa Group with its organisation and its development since 2021. She shares her impressions on this participation in the Global Social and Solidarity Economy Forum.
“Our participation in the forum was a very positive experience. We spoke with visitors from across the world at GRET’s stand, providing information on the Dignity and Health project and on the Fantaa Economic Interest Group (EIG). Through these various discussions at the stand and during the self-managed session organised by GRET, I realised the appeal of a social and solidarity project for a cause as essential as managing menstrual hygiene.
Visitors were particularly struck by the innovation led by these rural women, who produce high-quality sanitary towels, raise the awareness of girls in schools, organise their business and improve their independence and their income. Their determination to become more autonomous and support major behavioural change regarding menstrual hygiene distinguishes the project led by these women from the “usual” projects manufacturing and distributing sanitary towels.
Sanitary towels were sold during the forum, while the Municipality of Dakar and some Senegalese schools expressed their wish to place orders. A Mauritanian business also placed an order.
Numerous discussions with GRET’s partners took place at the stand, such as Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), and numerous regional and international associations. Some of these, in Benin and Niger, would like to replicate the project, while the Reunion Island association Paloma expressed its wish to develop a partnership with GRET and the Fantaa EIG to purchase sanitary towels, and distribute them in localities that need them while developing activities to raise awareness on managing menstrual hygiene.
This exhibition at the Global Social and Solidarity Economy Forum was a great success for the women working with this project! Reactions from the public and the contacts made with potential partners confirm the usefulness and relevance of their work, and mean that they can envisage disseminating this simple idea: women working for women by addressing menstrual hygiene, awareness-raising for all women and girls, and autonomy as a common thread.”
Aïssatou Sy, project manager with GRET Senegal
