The Home of Representatives, by way of its Committee on Well being, on Wednesday, July 2, 2025 held a vital engagement with Public Well being Initiative Liberia (PHIL) in partnership with WaterAid Liberia -HerWASH Venture to debate the pressing want for the elimination of taxes on menstrual well being and hygiene (MHM) merchandise.
The roundtable introduced collectively lawmakers, well being advocates, and technical consultants to look at the affect of interval poverty and discover coverage choices for bettering entry to menstrual merchandise throughout Liberia.
Talking on the session, PHIL Government Director Joyce Kilipo emphasised that the engagement is a part of a broader initiative funded by International Affairs Canada by way of WaterAid. She famous that PHIL has been actively working in Grand Cape Mount County and on the nationwide degree to advertise menstrual well being and hygiene.
Kilipo defined that regardless of being a organic necessity for greater than half of Liberia’s inhabitants, menstrual merchandise stay unaffordable, inaccessible, and closely taxed. At present, menstrual merchandise in Liberia are topic to a 20% import obligation and a ten% items and companies tax (GST), as they’re categorized below normal items relatively than important well being commodities.
“Many women and girls in Liberia, particularly these in rural and low-income communities, are pressured to make use of unhygienic alternate options like rags, newspapers, and even leaves as a consequence of lack of entry,” she stated. “This ends in infections, missed college days, diminished productiveness, and long-term well being issues.”
Kilipo additional known as on lawmakers to: Take away the 20% import obligation and 10% GST on menstrual merchandise.
Classify menstrual merchandise as important well being gadgets, much like rice, drugs, and agricultural inputs.
Promote native manufacturing of inexpensive and eco-friendly sanitary merchandise by way of budgetary incentives and technical help.
She highlighted that interval poverty not solely impacts well being but in addition training, gender equality, and financial productiveness. In line with UNESCO, 1 in 10 ladies in sub-Saharan Africa misses college throughout menstruation, a statistic that displays Liberia’s personal struggles.
Eradicating taxes on menstrual merchandise, she argued, would align Liberia with over 30 nations, together with Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, the UK, and Canada, which have already eradicated such taxes in pursuit of gender justice and public well being fairness.
In response, Chairperson of the Home Committee on Well being, Julie F. Wiah, welcomed the initiative and acknowledged the necessity for legislative motion.
“It is a well timed and essential dialogue. As lawmakers, we should make sure that our insurance policies replicate the realities our women and girls face. We are going to discover the potential of amending current tax legal guidelines and look to finest practices from nations like Sierra Leone, which not too long ago handed the same regulation,” Madam Wiah said.
The lawmakers pledged continued collaboration with civil society organizations and affirmed their dedication to convening additional engagements on this important situation.
The session concluded with a robust consensus that menstrual well being isn’t a luxurious, however a primary human proper — and addressing interval poverty is vital to reaching academic fairness, public well being development, and gender equality in Liberia.
