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{
    "id": 1555495,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1555495/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 355,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Orwoba",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "and those who have been involved in the space of menstrual equity, we came down to this particular name: The Provision of Sanitary Towels Bill for the avoidance of doubt. We did not want to have any confusion. Some people suggested that we should call it the Provision of Menstrual Products or Provision of Menstrual Management. I want to inform the House that many a time we legislate and create a lot of loopholes and gaps such that people are unable to implement the laws that we pass. Menstrual hygiene and menstrual management is not limited to the products that we have. If we called it the provision or something to do with menstrual hygiene or management, we would then be also talking about things like painkillers, hot water bottles and nutrition. So, I was deliberate on this particular title. This is because I am trying to compel the Government of Kenya to provide sanitary towels to all schoolgirls and all women who are domiciled in the prisons. We, therefore, settled for the title: The Provision of Sanitary Towels Bill. Part 1 of this Bill highlights the preliminaries. It cites what the Act will be called, that is, The Provision of Sanitary Towels. It also defines certain terminologies such as the committees, cabinet secretaries, sanitary towels, county interdepartmental committees and secretaries. This will help us not to have confusion when we go down to the details of this Bill. We had a huge debate on whether this Bill should be domiciled in the Ministry of Education or whether it should be domiciled as an Act under the Ministry of Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs. Some people were of the view that this is a public health issue thus this Bill should be domiciled under the Ministry of Health. I am giving us a brief history of what has been happening because this pertinent issue does not have a home. As we speak, it is being bounced off from Ministry to Ministry. It started off as an Act under the education laws. For a long period of time, the provision of free sanitary towels was domiciled under the Ministry of Education. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, there have been many challenges, including issues with procurement, distribution and prioritizing the vulnerable girls who needed these products most. There were also concerns about the quality of the sanitary towels provided. As a result, this task was recently transferred to the Ministry of Gender, Culture, Arts and Heritage by the Kenya Kwanza Government. Under the Ministry of Gender, Culture, Arts and Heritage, I would like to acknowledge that the Kenya Kwanza Government has made significant strides in addressing the issue of period poverty. When we raised the matter of menstrual hygiene products accessibility with our party leader, he increased the budget for this initiative from KShs265 million to KShs1 billion. In the last financial year, Kshs1 billion was allocated to procure and distribute sanitary towels to schoolgirls. My Bill proposes that this mandate be domiciled in the Ministry of Gender, Culture, Arts and Heritage. Although menstruation is a health issue and we are using the Ministry of Education through the schools to distribute menstrual hygiene products, the truth is that it is a gender issue. I believe placing it under the Ministry of Gender, Culture, Arts and Heritage allows for collaboration with other ministries, such as Health and Education, to ensure effective execution of the free sanitary towels programme for schoolgirls and women in prisons. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}