Lindiwe Nkunana-Kgopa, founder and CEO of Lindiwe Sanitary Pads and recipient of the Veuve Clicquot Bold Woman Award 2026, emphasizes that the lack of accessible and free hygiene products is a systemic failure, not merely an oversight, especially given that public restrooms often provide soap and toilet paper.
This global, silent epidemic known as menstrual poverty constantly prevents girls from attending school and women from entering the workforce. Nkunana-Kgopa, who grew up in an environment where menstruation was a taboo subject, shares her view: 'You can hand a girl a pad, but if she still considers her body something shameful, you haven't truly liberated her.'
In Nkunana-Kgopa's view, breaking this silence begins with openly speaking the word 'menstruation' in classrooms, churches, or boardrooms until it becomes a biological fact again, rather than a secret. She notes that at LSP, education stands alongside production: 'The factory produces the product, but the classroom is what breaks the shame.'
Nkunana-Kgopa asserts that menstrual poverty and the economic isolation of women are the same struggle presented in different forms. She warns that simply building a factory and hiring staff, as is common in the industry, will only solve one problem, leaving women as consumers, not owners of the industry.
Her goal is for the production line to serve as proof, not just a supply chain. Every woman on the production line serves as a testament that this industry can successfully be built, managed, and led by the women it is meant for. Nkunana-Kgopa points out that a common misconception among young girls is the belief that menstruation is a sign that something is wrong with them, when it is a natural bodily function. She frequently encounters girls who perceive pain or irregular cycles as punishment or a defect because they were never taught basic biology.
Furthermore, she draws attention to the misconceptions held by boys, who believe menstruation does not concern them or that it is a topic for mocking girls. Nkunana-Kgopa stresses that silence among boys is as harmful as shame among girls, as it means half the class grows up without basic empathy or understanding. Therefore, wherever permitted, they advocate for joint education of boys and girls so that boys see menstruation as natural biology, not a secret, becoming supportive fathers, teachers, and partners.
Nkunana-Kgopa emphasizes that product distribution and infrastructure development must proceed in parallel, otherwise only half the problem is solved. Through the Buy to Donate initiative and collaboration with the Sanitary Dignity Programme, they can ensure a girl has an annual supply of pads. She gives an example: 'If there is no door, water, or bin in the school restroom, she still cannot manage her menstruation with dignity at school.'
According to her, both sectors have complementary strengths: the government controls infrastructural levers such as school budgets, facility maintenance, and water and sanitation programs, while the private sector provides speed, product expertise, and the ability to quickly test new solutions. She advocates for shared responsibility over isolated projects, insisting that the government commit to repairing and maintaining facilities specifically in the schools where such companies operate, ensuring a seamless alignment of both interventions.
Nkunana-Kgopa envisions a future where the education and dignity of no African girl is ever compromised because of menstruation. She stresses that achieving this goal will be actively built by African women themselves, not simply handed to them. The company has expanded internationally, distributing products in eleven African countries through a partnership with Young Women of Africa, thereby expanding opportunities for women entrepreneurs to own their own pad brands, rather than just reselling others'. Their task is to move from distribution to creating local, women-owned manufacturing centers across Africa. Each such center will be rooted in its community to create local jobs and pride, united by a standard of quality and a refusal to let silence or cost limit a girl's education. Her ambition is that girls across the continent never experience what she experienced.
According to a comprehensive analysis published in the journal BMJ Global Health, approximately one in fourteen women aged 30 to 49 living in low and middle-income countries experiences early menopause.
Researchers warned that this condition could create a growing burden on already strained healthcare systems. The work was conducted by scientists from the International Center for Diarrheal Disease Research in Bangladesh. The analysis covered data from 716,648 women across 44 low and middle-income countries, including India, Indonesia, Gabon, and Jordan. According to PTI, nearly 365,000 women from India were included in the study.
Menopause typically occurs in women between the ages of 45 and 55. Menopause occurring before age 45 is classified as early, while onset before age 40 is considered premature menopause. Researchers found that the overall prevalence of premature or early menopause exceeds seven percent, meaning over 51,000 women in the study faced this issue. The highest percentage was recorded among women aged 40 to 44, at about 14 percent.
The highest frequency by country was noted in Ethiopia (12 percent), followed by Indonesia (11.5 percent) and Myanmar (over 10 percent). The lowest rate was registered in Jordan (just over two percent), as well as in Gabon and Armenia, where it was almost three percent. It was also found that early menopause is more common in rural areas than in urban areas in all analyzed countries. However, the risk significantly decreases with higher levels of education and delayed childbearing.
Most surveyed women lived in rural areas (62 percent). Furthermore, 38 percent married before the age of 18, and 21 percent gave birth to their first child before adulthood. More than half of the women had three or more children. The authors warn that these results indicate a growing public health problem against the backdrop of aging populations in low and middle-income countries.
Researchers emphasized that as the population of these countries rapidly ages, and women spend more time in postmenopausal status, the prevalence of this condition represents a significant and increasing burden on healthcare systems that are already constrained by competing priorities and insufficient resources. They also noted that the data reflects broader inequalities affecting women's health, including issues with access to medical care, nutritional status, educational opportunities, and occupational risks, as many women in the studied countries engage in manual labor and are exposed to industrial hazards.
Early and premature menopause is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, metabolic disorders, cognitive decline, depression, and premature death, and it significantly affects quality of life. Additionally, a study published in The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Women's Health in June reported that women in South Asia have a 34 percent higher risk of premature menopause compared to European women, with half of them reaching menopause by 47.4 years of age.
