Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim champions Nigeria’s first National Policy on Menstrual Health and Hygiene Management.
Nigeria has reached a historic milestone in public health and gender equality with the adoption of its first National Policy on Menstrual Health and Hygiene Management (MHHM). Spearheaded by the Minister of Women’s Affairs and Social Development, Hon. Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, the policy seeks to transform menstrual health for millions of women and girls, tackling stigma, affordability, and infrastructure challenges.
A reformer in public service
Sulaiman-Ibrahim is a politician and businesswoman known for her commitment to women’s empowerment and reform. Born in Jos in 1980 and raised in Abuja, she graduated in Sociology from the University of Abuja at 19, later earning dual master’s degrees—an MBA and an MA—from Webster University, London.
Her early career in the UK saw her rise to Senior Sales Director at Mary Kay before returning to Nigeria to serve in a series of high-profile government roles, including Director-General of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP) and Federal Commissioner for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons. In August 2023, she became Nigeria’s first female Minister of State for Police Affairs, before being reassigned in October 2024 as Minister of Women’s Affairs and Social Development.
Sulaiman-Ibrahim drives Nigeria’s menstrual health agenda
As minister, she has made menstrual health a national priority. The new policy emerged from extensive consultations across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, ensuring responses reflect the country’s diverse cultural and social realities. It targets the root causes of school absenteeism, early dropouts, child marriage, and preventable health conditions such as anaemia and infections—issues that disproportionately affect adolescent girls and vulnerable women.
The policy calls for greater access to affordable menstrual products, improved water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities, and widespread education to dismantle taboos. It also advocates the removal of taxes on sanitary products to ease financial barriers.
Sulaiman-Ibrahim’s vision for 2030
Sulaiman-Ibrahim’s ambition is clear: by 2030, no Nigerian girl should have to choose between managing her menstruation and staying in school, and no woman should face professional or personal setbacks because of a natural biological process. Achieving this, she argues, requires multi-sectoral collaboration—from federal and state governments to grassroots organisations—as well as international partnerships with bodies like Population Services International (PSI) and WaterAid Nigeria.
From stigma to strategy
The MHHM policy represents more than a health intervention. It signals a paradigm shift—from silence and stigma to dignity and inclusion. If implemented effectively, it could deliver better health outcomes, higher educational retention, and stronger economic participation by women, directly advancing Nigeria’s wider goals of inclusive growth and gender equality.
Sulaiman-Ibrahim’s role in pushing the agenda underscores her reputation as both a reform-minded technocrat and a compassionate policymaker. By anchoring menstrual health in Nigeria’s development agenda, she positions it not as a private burden but as a national priority and foundation for empowerment.
