Today, due to period poverty (lack of access to affordable menstrual products) it is increasingly difficult for Ukrainians to go to work, school, or the grocery store when menstruating. The reality is that products to meet menstrual needs are extremely expensive and not included as part of humanitarian aid packages.

Project Kesher is partnering with CouldYou? Cup to provide 25,000 menstrual cups to send to Ukraine. Menstruation cups will be disseminated to essential health care providers such as a maternity hospital in Rivne, and Okhmatdyt, the largest children's hospital in Kyiv. Cups will be delivered to health care providers on the front lines, as well as to Ukrainian refugees in Europe and Israel. Through this collaboration, we aim to make period poverty one less indignity that Ukrainians have to face. Project Kesher and CouldYou? Cup are sending the first 5,500 menstrual cups to Ukraine this week, and seek to send 25,000 by the end of the year.

CouldYou? Cup leaders shared that younger people in Ukraine, passionate about menstrual and climate justice, are looking for sustainable period products. The small, flexible cup is made of 100% medical grade silicone. Instead of absorbing your flow, like a tampon or pad, it catches and collects it. The cup can be emptied and reused endlessly. A $10 menstrual cup can meet one person’s menstrual needs for 10 years.

Project Kesher: When Russia escalated its attacks on Ukraine in February 2022, Project Kesher Ukraine’s women leaders became a network for humanitarian relief. The Project Kesher network has provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to Ukrainian families, evacuated over 9,000 people, distributed hygiene products, rape kits, personal care items, and baby food to thousands of women and mothers, and have helped Ukrainian women and children settle into new cities and countries. Learn more about Project Kesher’s impact in Ukraine.

CouldYou? Cup: The CouldYou? Girls and Women’s Health Initiative is sustainably addressing the menstrual hygiene management needs of women and girls through immediate access to health education and menstrual cups. The Initiative has been serving girls since 2017. By the end of this year, CouldYou? Cup will have served over 100,000 women and girls. Learn more.