"There are lots of reasons kids miss school.
Being a girl shouldn't be one of them."

Many girls in the developing world miss up to five days of school each month because they don't have access to adequate sanitary protection. In some cases, these girls fall so far behind in their studies that they ultimately drop out. Existing research shows that the welfare of adolescent girls is crucial in determining economic and social outcomes for countries today, and in the future.1

Did you know?

  • *When a girl in the developing world receives seven or more years of education she marries four years later and has 2.2 fewer children.1
  • *An extra year of primary school boosts a girls' eventual wages by 10-20%. An extra year of secondary school: 15-25%.2
  • *Research in developing countries has shown a consistent relationship between better infant and child health land higher levels of schooling among mothers.3
  • *When women and girls earn income, they reinvest 90% of it into their families, as compared to only 30-40% for a man.4
  • *Approximately one quarter of girls in developing countries are not in school.5
  • *Out of the world's 130 million out �of-school youth, 70% are girls.6

To help address these issues, Always and Tampax created the Protecting Futures Program in 2007. Since its inception, Protecting Futures has worked with partner organizations to provide puberty education and sanitary protection to help vulnerable girls stay in school. In addition, Protecting Futures and its partners work to raise awareness and build advocacy for these girls' needs.

Since its inception, Protecting Futures has provided puberty education and feminine protection to over one million girls in 17 countries throughout the developing world. Our goal is to reach one million girls by the end of 2012.

Protecting Futures is a signature program of P&G's Live, Learn and Thrive Cause committed to improving life for children in need around the world. Every year, P&G reaches more than 50 million children under our Live, Learn & Thrive banner.

To make a contribution, please click here.

1United Nations Population Fund, State of World Polulation 1990;
2George Psacharopoulos and Harry Anthoy Patrinos, "Return to Investments in Education: A Further Update," Policy Research Working Paper 2881 Washington, DC, World Bank 2002;
3Human Development Network: Girl's Education, World Bank 2008: Paying the price � The economic cost of failing to educate girls PLAN 2008, PLAN 2007 Because I am a Girl: The state of the world's girls 2007 *via PLAN 2008);
4Phil Borges, with forward by Madeleine Albright, Women Empowered: Inspiring Change in the Emerging World, New York, Rizzoli 2007;
5Cynthia B. Lloyd, ed., Growing Up Global: The Changing Transitions to Adulthood in Developing Countries, Washington, DC, National Academies Press 2005;
6Human Rights Watch, "Promises Broken: An Assessment of Children's Rights on the 10th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child," Dec. 1999.

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