Bolgatanga, May 29, GNA – Global Communities, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), has called on stakeholders to provide infrastructure to ensure that women and young girls have access to menstrual hygiene friendly facilities during menstruation.
This, it said, would help women and young girls to have access to water, toilet facilities, sanitary pads and changing rooms at home, schools and workplaces, to empower them to be assertive and ensure good hygienic practices in managing their periods.
Mr George Gyesey, Social Behaviour Change Specialist, Global Communities, who made the call on behalf of Alberto Wilde, Chief of Party, Global Communities, at Bolgatanga as part of activities marking this year’s Menstrual Hygiene Day, said the move would contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
The commemoration was supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under its Enhancing WASH (E-WASH) Activity and was characterized by a route march by school children on the principal streets of Bolgatanga.
They held placards with inscription such as “Menstruation is Not Shameful, Dirty or Non-Religious”, “Parents, Teachers, all of us, Let’s Educate Women and Girls on Menstruation”, “Bath at Least Twice a Day During Menstruation”, “Change Sanitary Pads, Empower Women and Girls through Menstrual Education,” and Make Sanitary Pads or Towels More Affordable and Accessible.”
As part of the commemoration, the NGO undertook radio discussions to create public awareness on menstrual hygiene and also counseled and sensitized the school children and orphans from Mama Laadi’s Orphanage,
The E-WASH aimed at facilitating access to and use of sustainable water, sanitation and hygiene services, tackling multiple challenges and building partnerships to accelerate the attainment of SDGs is being implemented in 30 districts in Oti, Northern, Savannah, North East, Upper East and Upper West Regions.
Mr Gyesey, who is also the Upper East Regional Coordinator, Global Communities, indicated that globally, it was projected that 52 per cent of the female reproductive age population menstruate every month with greater percentages being young girls who were mostly school girls.
“It is again estimated that 300 million women and young girls around the world menstruate each day. Many of these women and young girls have challenges in accessing very clean and hygienic menstrual materials with inadequate private space for changing while in school and at home,” he said.
Apart from this, he said, cultural barriers coupled with lack of knowledge posed serious challenges to young girls and women in managing their menstrual and asked stakeholders to address them.
Mrs Mary Alosum, the Coordinator, Bolgatanga Municipal School Health Education Programme, Ghana Education Service, said menstruation was normal and a natural monthly cycle and advised girls to seek information and avoid risky behaviour.
Mr Timothy Allou, the Bolgatanga Municipal Deputy Director in charge of supervision and Monitoring, GES, appealed to the government to scrape the tax on sanitary pads to make them affordable, to encourage decent and hygienic menstrual management.
Source: Ghana News Agency
