We at KORA MIKINO are actively committed to ending Period Poverty on a sustainable basis. Our Period Pledge aims to help all menstruating people in the world who have no or insufficient access to period products.
For this we work with non-profit partners who are already active in the global south and provide them with the patterns for the production of our period panties via an open source license. We believe in helping people to help themselves and that empowerment is better and more sustainable than creating dependencies.
That is why both we and our partners support the local people in their own independent and local production of period underwear.
We have already found four great partners! #endperiodpoverty
What is Period Poverty?
Worldwide there are 1.8 billion menstruating people, of which around 1.2 billion people are not supplied with or inadequately supplied with monthly hygiene products. In turn, the people who have access to hygiene products such as tampons and sanitary towels cause 2.9 billion kilograms of waste every year. In view of climate change and the scarcity of resources, this supply gap cannot be closed with waste-intensive disposable products. A new and innovative solution is required here. We at KORA MIKINO want to lead by example - without polluting the environment or creating dependencies!
Sources: Unicef, Menstrual Hygiene Day
"2/3 of menstruating people have no access to period products, which often has devastating consequences; they miss school or are stigmatized and ostracized. That shouldn't be!
As a small Berlin start-up, we cannot produce period underwear for the whole world, so we will share and empower social initiatives to produce their own period panties! Sharing is caring! We call this initiative 'The Period Pledge.' "
Julia Rittereiser, found of KORA MIKINO
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Make know-how accessible
We make our know-how for the production of menstrual panties available to non-profit partners via an open source license.
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Our point of view
We do not want to market our KORA MIKINO menstrual panties outside of Europe, as we are convinced that the way to a fair and social economy is regional.
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Pattern for period underwear for non-profits
For non-profits, we provide a period underwear pattern. Simply send an email to 📬 periodpledge@koramikino.de.
Period Pledge FAQ
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Period Poverty: Why We Don't Just Donate Panties
Why Don't We Just Donate Panties? We want to reach and support as many menstruating people as possible. We can only do that if we share our knowledge. We don't want to create new dependencies, but rather enable people to become sufficient when it comes to period products.
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Period Poverty: What Can You Do About It?
We want to collaborate with non-profit initiatives and partners outside Europe who work with menstruating people on an equal footing. We do not believe in the widely practiced "White Savior Approach", in which people from privileged countries think they know the problem and can solve it. We want to work with partners who are also willing to learn from the people they want to help.
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Period Poverty: What role our work plays in the Period Pledge
Period Poverty is a global problem and we understand that our role is one of the advisors and advisers. We realize that we don't know what the perfect menstrual panty is and that menstruating people in an East African country may have different needs than we do. We are happy when materials and patterns are adapted to our own needs and solutions arise that we would never have thought of at our desks. Maybe a completely different solution is needed.
BECOME PART OF THE MOVEMENT
We are constantly looking for strong allies for our mission and are happy to receive any kind of feedback, interest, and support. For questions and suggestions please feel free to contact us.
