Pencils of Promise, a Non-Governmental Organisation, has supported about 300 girls from five Basic schools in the Keta Municipality of the Volta Region to commemorate this year’s Menstrual Hygiene Day at Anlo-Afiadenyigba Evangelical Presbyterian Basic school.
The annual Menstrual Hygiene Day, which was an annual advocacy day was also dedicated to increased awareness and understanding of menstrual health and hygiene for all women and girls, challenges and hardship faced in accessing comprehensive menstrual education, among others.
Mr Freeman Gobah, the Country Director of the Pencils of Promise, during a ceremony held at Anlo-Afiadenyigba EP school to mark the day, said that a world where the taboos and stigma surrounding menstruation were history, and every girl child should have access to quality menstrual products, period education and period-friendly toilet.
“This year’s theme ‘Together for a #Period Friendly World’, is a reminder that we must work together to increase awareness and action towards common goal,” he said.
Mr Gobah explained that the Penile of Promise commemorated this year’s menstrual hygiene day by bringing together the voices and actions of community stakeholders from five schools in the Keta Municipality, government agencies, partners like Fidelity Bank, Ghana, Hallmark Medical and media to promote good menstrual health and hygiene for all girls.
He said that menstrual hygiene management was a major health concerned that affected women and girls’ reproductive age, especially in underserved communities in the country who mostly go through many avoidable challenges in relation to menstrual hygiene management.
“Many schools in the deprived areas do not have the necessary infrastructure, supplies, and adequate knowledge to adequately support girls during menstruation, and we must stand now and work toward that”.
Mr Gobah said that through the NGO’s menstrual hygiene management programmes, over 1,200 teachers were provided with relevant knowledge and information on how to best implement menstrual hygiene management in school which benefited girl students largely across the country.
He said a partnership with ‘Pad Project’ has also helped in providing over 6,500 affordable reusable sanitary pads to girls in basic schools which aimed at ensuring that girls stay in school and have the confidence to participate in all school activities.
He said that about 3,500 girls from various hygiene clubs formed in the schools were earlier trained on how to make their own reusable sanitary pads using home-made materials that were hygienic, cheap, and environmentally friendly.
Madam Nana Yaa Afriyie Ofori, the Head of Partnership and Sustainability at Fidelity Bank, in her speech during the occasion, said that the bank was a people centered organisation which was committed to drive inclusive development and partnership to alleviate the plight of vulnerable.
She said that the recent global estimation has indicated that 1 in 10 girls in the Sub-Saharan Africa miss school during their periods due to lack of access to sanitary products, poor sanitation and entrenched stigma which contributed to learning gaps, lower performance and even school dropouts and needed urgent redress.
She commended Pencils of Promise for the good initiatives implemented and pledged their support to promote menstrual hygiene for girls and other social intervention programmes for the public to receive better education, empowerment and respect about the periods.
She urged girls not to use their periods as a reason to hide, be ashamed, or fall behind others, but rather believe that it is a stage in woman life that one must be proud of.
The beneficiary students from schools such Anlo-Afiadenyigba RC and EP basic, Gagodope-Lave basic, Adzoatsi M. A basic and Tengekope basic schools who spoke to the GNA, thanked the donors for the kind gesture and promised to use the pads well for their own benefit.
GNA