The Role of Law in Addressing Poverty and Inequality in High Income Countries: A Comparative View of Menstrual Hygiene Management and Its Impact on Education and Health in the UK and Select High Income Sub-Saharan African Countries

Abstract Agenda 2030 on sustainable development promotes a holistic approach to development and emphasizes the need to leave no one behind. Regarding the rule of law, sustainable development goal (SDG) 16.3 focuses on (promoting the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all by 2030) and the related goals and targets on justice. Changing economic conditions in recent decades have caused stagnating wages and widening economic gaps among individual citizens and regions within developed countries and this is reflected in pockets of poverty and inequality in high income countries and islands of excess wealth in developing or low-income countries, worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper examines the legal aspects of poverty and inequality in the education and health sectors in select high-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa and a Western industrialized country such as the UK, with emphasis on period poverty or poor menstrual health management (MHM) as a barrier to access to education and health due to inability to afford sanitary products. The analytical paper applies the institutionalist legislative theory and methodology (ILTAM) and the general theory of law and development, examines the role of the state in regulating the health and education sectors and concludes with key findings and recommendations on how the institutional and legal frameworks can be utilized to foster sustainable development in high-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa.