Rwanda scraps VAT on sanitary towels

After long months of fierce lobbying, it is a win for the NGOs and lobby groups as Rwanda added sanitary towels to the list of goods exempted from the Value Added Tax.

Before, there had been an 18% levy  imposed on sanitary pads. With the scrapping of the tax, more girls will hopefully be able to access the commodity.

“Moving to the right direction, from now onwards, the Government of Rwanda has added Sanitary Pads to a list of goods that are VAT exempted in a bid to ease their affordability,” Rwanda’s Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion tweeted.

Just last year, South Africa also scrapped taxes on sanitary products after caving in to the pressure mounted by Women MPs‚ academics‚ and civil society bodies.