Girls, get ready to jump for joy. Boys, hang in there, you should care about this too!

The days of embarrassing leaks, FOW (fear of white) and emergency trips to the pharmacy may well be over, because three geniuses have developed the world’s first underwear that doubles as a feminine pad.

So how does it work? THINX underwear is made with 4 magical layers, which you can read all about on the website.

While the underwear is meant to be a backup to tampons and menstrual cups, some choose to use it as a replacement on lighter days. Each style has different absorbency, so you can choose what’s best for you on light, medium and heavy days. Best of all, they’re super cute!

I can imagine what you’re thinking. This is fantastic, but what does it have to do with Global Citizen?

Here’s what’s up. In many parts of the world, menstruation is highly stigmatized. Forget feeling embarrassed- many girls are made to feel ashamed when they get their periods, in no small part because they often lack the materials and privacy they need to take care of business. This is incredibly problematic, because when girls lack access to adequate sanitation, they end up missing school, falling behind and even dropping out.

In addition to addressing the stigma, two things could help change that: first, ensuring that schools are equipped with clean, private bathrooms for girls to use, and second, ensuring all girls have safe, hygienic feminine products.

THINX is working to address the latter. For every pair of underwear purchased, THINX sends funds to its partner organization, AFRIpads, which is on the ground in Uganda employing 130 people in its four factories. The women in the factories learn to create reusable, cloth pads, which are then sold at a fair price to girls. In this way, more girls are able to stay in school. Is that awesome or what?

As if things couldn’t get any sweeter, THINX underwear will also benefit the environment by reducing waste caused by tampons and feminine pads. Genius!

I love how co-founders Radha Agrawal, Miki Agrawal,  Antonia Dunbar are solving one of the world’s most pressing problems through social innovation. Yes, this is a victory for girls with periods. But it’s also a lot bigger than that. Now if they can just figure out how to incorporate some sort of cramp reduction tool...