In commemoration of International Menstrual Hygiene Day, the Green Africa Youth Organization (GAYO) held a stakeholder sensitization event in the Bolgatanga municipality of the Upper East Region.
The event aimed to raise awareness about menstrual hygiene and address the challenges faced by women and girls in the region. Every year on May 28th, Menstrual Hygiene Day serves as a poignant reminder of the importance of menstrual health and hygiene. This year’s global theme is “Together for a Period-Friendly World.”
The event organized by GAYO in partnership with the Safe Menstruation Movement (SAMMO) focused on educating stakeholders about the importance of menstrual hygiene and the need for proper menstrual health management.
The community engagement coordinator of GAYO, Khadijah Azumah Braimah, while addressing the media, emphasized the importance of the day as well as the need for GAYO to bring together all relevant stakeholders to have a common platform for education.
“The essence of this program today, as we mark the International Menstrual Hygiene Day, is to engage with various stakeholders such as Chiefs, Teachers, parents, GES, and the district assembly so that we can deliberate on issues surrounding menstruation together with the students. We are also using this as an opportunity to advocate for the scrapping of the 20 percent tax on sanitary pads in the country, which is making it difficult for women, especially students, to buy them,” she said.
Benedict Fosu Arthur, Project Coordinator for GAYO, while sharing some of the challenges girls and women face regarding menstrual hygiene in the region, noted that through their community engagement, they realized many girls lack adequate menstrual hygiene education, especially in underserved communities.
According to Mr. Fosu Arthur, as GAYO is currently working in some communities in the Kassena Nankana West district, access to sanitary pads for many school girls during their menstruation is an issue of concern, hence the organization’s focus on helping to address these challenges.
Speaking to A1 News, Nsobono Paul, the president of SAMMO, a local NGO in the region that partnered with GAYO to ensure a successful celebration of the day, applauded the level of interest and commitment stakeholders have in menstrual issues in the region. Thus, Mr. Nsobono believes this will help address some of the challenges women and girls face.
The stakeholders, including the traditional leaders who graced the celebration, expressed happiness and urged GAYO not to stop but rather expand its operational areas in the region.
Source: A1Radioonline.Com|101.1MHz|David Azure|Bolgatanga|
