The Caribbean Football Union Raises Awareness of Period Poverty

August 25, 2023 

The Caribbean Football Union (CFU) has partnered with a range of entities and individuals to provide personal care packages to each player competing in the 2023 CFU Girls’ U14 Challenge Series. The effort is part of a CFU initiative to raise awareness about menstruation, period poverty and the barriers to girls’ participation it creates in sport and football in the region. The CFU intends to address these barriers through an initiative supported by UN Women under the Spotlight Initiative Small Grant Program.

Data shows that one in three adults in the Caribbean and Latin America is physically inactive, compared to the global average of one in four. This lack of activity is more worrisome among youth and children, with nine out of 10 adolescents not achieving the recommended 60 minutes of daily physical activity. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) the prevalence of physical inactivity is 35% higher in women than in men worldwide, and 41% higher in the Caribbean and Latin America. 

UNICEF reports that 500 million women and girls worldwide lack the necessary facilities and supplies to manage their periods with dignity, privacy and safety. Period poverty refers not only to the lack of access to menstrual products and hygiene education during menstruation but also to the lack of toilets, handwashing and waste management facilities. During the COVID-19 pandemic, menstruation challenges were heightened in the Caribbean and Latin America region, with UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) delivering more than 150,000 emergency kits with period supplies in 2020 alone.

Issues around menstruation stem from cultural norms within the region, which leads discussions on menstruation to be perceived as taboo. Additionally, economic poverty means that women and girls within the region can’t afford safe and efficient feminine products, which can lead to period stains that, in turn, can impact self-confidence and often contributes to physical inactivity.

As part of the program, the CFU is distributing personal care packages in partnership with manufacturers A.S. Bryden, agents for Kotex, to provide feminine hygiene products, the Calvin Ayre Foundation (CAF), FIFA, Kelesha Antoine, the only Caribbean female CONCACAF/FIFA Referee instructor and deodorant brand, Rexona. Each package, going to players in the grassroots tournament which concludes on Sunday, includes sanitary napkins and panty liners, period underwear, deodorant, lip balm, affirmations and educational information on periods that will raise awareness of the issue.

“Collaborating with the Caribbean Football Union on this project is a way to highlight an issue preventing our girls from realizing their full potential in football. It brings the conversation from the sidelines into the open, and we think this is a great way for us to engage with and show our support for girls from across the region,” said Carol Richards, Product Manager at A.S. Bryden. 

Antoine, who understands intimately the barriers to participation for women and girls, shared: “Investing in our girls is sometimes as small as a modest donation coming from amongst us to support us. If each of us gives what we can of our time, resources, experience and advocacy, this will create an unstoppable force that will dismantle barriers and make a way for young female footballers and match officials.”

Source: The Caribbean Football Union 

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