Investing in Girls Education Africa (IGEA), a not-for-profit organisation operating in parts of the Upper East Region has joined calls for the government to take deliberate actions that would positively affect the price of sanitary products on the Ghanaian market.
IGEA argued that the 40 percent tax margin on the price of sanitary products makes it a commodity many families in rural families cannot afford. The consequence of the high price of sanitary products, according to IGEA, is monumental.
When Rusmond Anyinah, the Director for IGEA spoke to A1 Radio’s Mark Smith at the sidelines of a Partners and Review meeting in Paga, the capital of the Kassena Nankana West District, he was visibly disturbed about the government’s inaction on the situation.
“One of the key things we have been advocating, together with other CSOs, is to remind the government that the cost of sanitary pads is very high. It is out of the reach of a lot of girls in rural areas. Even in urban areas, where there are a lot of pockets of poverty, it is above their reach. We are aware, based on data, that the cost of sanitary pads is about 40 percent tax.”
“You would recall that recently we had to go to Parliament to petition the speaker to try to advocate for a reduction in the taxes that are imposed on sanitary products. We were expecting a reduction in the mid-year budget review. That was not done. We are still very hopeful that maybe, in next year’s budget, the government will listen to some of these issues,” he said.
Mr. Anyinah explained that girls, who cannot afford disposable sanitary pads and do not have access to reusable pads are often discouraged from attending school when they are on their periods. Additionally, girls who would want to be able to afford these sanitary products may be forced to engage in transactional sex.
Investing in Girls Education Africa (IGEA) was founded in 2019 in the UK and Ghana to promote access to quality education for girls in rural communities. The activities of IGEA are anchored on effective partnerships and cross-sector collaborations.
Between April 2022 and March 2023, IGEA undertook, mass sensitization of parents on the need to invest in girls education, distribution of sanitary products for school girls and juvenile inmates, provision of coaching and educational resources to promising rural girls, identification of women and training in the production of reusable sanitary products and kits, facilitate pathways for rural young girls to gain technical skills to aid employability skills and pilot new modules in improving educational outcomes at the basic level.
Source: A1radioonline.com|101.1MHz|Mark Kwasi Ahumah Smith|Ghana
