Argentina’s Justice Minister Mariano Cúneo Libarona has announced the closure of 13 programmes launched by the former Women, Gender & Diversity Ministry.
The programmes include the MenstruAR scheme distributing menstrual hygiene products, a support initiative for families of victims of extreme gender-based violence and a programme to improve access to human rights policies for travesti, transsexual and transgender people.
“Eliminating these absurd wasteful schemes will save more than six billion pesos [around US$5.2 million at the official exchange rate] a year for decent Argentines,” Cúneo Libarona stated on his X account.
“None of the 13 programmes, created between 2020 and 2023, had verifiable evidence of real impact, evaluation criteria or outcome monitoring,” he claimed.
Cúneo Libarona branded the initiatives “ideological” and singled out the menstrual hygiene scheme in particular. “We’ve eliminated 13 ideological programmes created by Kirchnerism, funded by all Argentines – including the ludicrous MenstruAR,” the minister said.
According to the website of the now-defunct Women, Gender & Diversity Ministry, which remains online, MenstruAR distributed menstrual cups to local governments across the country “to ensure equal access to menstrual hygiene products for menstruating people.”
This issue – dismissed by the minister as “ludicrous” – is a serious one for thousands of girls nationwide. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warns that lack of access to menstrual hygiene products has serious consequences for the health, education and well-being of millions of people.
“Many girls and teenagers miss school during their periods because they lack access to menstrual hygiene products (PGM), adequate sanitation facilities, or support from their school community when menstruating,” the UN agency warns.
“Menstruation is a driver of inequality. Menstrual hygiene products represent a cost for people who menstruate – a group that tends to face lower incomes, higher levels of job insecurity, unemployment and poverty,” says UNICEF on its website.
Another scrapped programme is the Programa para el Apoyo Urgente y la Asistencia Integral Inmediata ante casos de Violencias Extremas por Motivos de Género, a plan designed to assist families and close contacts of women murdered in femicides or people killed for reasons of gender identity.
This initiative was created in 2021 under former Women’s Minister Elizabeth Gómez Alcorta. It provided economic aid, psychological support, legal counselling, logistical assistance for travel, and help navigating reparations procedures for the children of femicide victims, as set out in Law No. 27.452.
According to the Observatorio Lucía Pérez NGO, at least 102 femicides have been recorded so far in 2025. As a result, at least 51 girls and boys have been left orphaned.
The government has also eliminated the Programa de Fortalecimiento del Acceso a Derechos Para Personas Travestis, Transexuales y Transgénero, which provided financial support to members of the minority group over the age of 50 who do not have formal employment. It also included a system of care and guidance to ensure “effective access to fundamental rights in conditions that respect gender identity and expression.”
Additional programmes shut down by Milei’s government include plans focused on gender training, gender equality in the workplace and rural areas and citizen and social participation in gender and diversity matters.
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