New Zealand's Ardern announces free sanitary products in all schools to beat period poverty

FILE PHOTO: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern addresses her supporters at a Labour Party event in Wellington, New Zealand, October 11, 2020. REUTERS/Praveen Menon/File Photo

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - All New Zealand schools will have free access to sanitary products from June, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Thursday, an initiative aimed at stamping out period poverty in the country.

The announcement follows a successful pilot programme launched around the middle of last year, which provided free period products to about 3,200 young people in 15 schools.