3 Join dialogue on menstrual health
Three civil society organisations in the country have joined global partners in menstrual health and hygiene to launch this year’s Menstrual Hygiene Day in Accra.
The three are Hope for Future Generations (HFFG), Association of African Women in Development (AAWID) and Youth Support Foundation (YSF).
Advertisement
The launch was symbolically marked with a kick of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) football, which is going round 26 countries globally on the virtual campaign and on the theme, “Kick off a dialogue on menstrual health”.
Campaign
The campaign, which started on May 1, 2021, is to last through to May 28, 2021 as a way to trigger a transnational dialogue on menstrual health and hygiene to support girls and young women including those living with disabilities as part of their feminine journey to menstruate with dignity.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Executive Director of HFFG, Mrs Cecilia Senoo, said as HFFG celebrated its 20 years this year of impacting the lives of millions of key and vulnerable populations across the 16 regions in the country, “the anniversary celebration will focus on consolidating HFFG’s achievements.
“We will continue to be the voice of those women and girls mostly left behind. Our slogan ‘Pads for girls everywhere’ will target the distribution of 500,000 reusable pads to key and vulnerable women and girls in hard-to-reach areas”.
Restoring dignity
This, she said, included those that were socially excluded and stigmatised because of their status, saying that the HFFG would continue to partner the many organisations contributing to menstrual hygiene in Ghana with an expectation of restoring their dignity and trust in society.
The International Menstrual Hygiene Day, which is celebrated on May 28, is a day to promote menstrual health and management as well as to break the silence on stigma and challenges facing girls in relation to menstruation across the world.
Globally, it is estimated that more than 130 million girls are reported to miss out of school during their period.
Other Trending Stories
According to Mrs Senoo, among the reasons for that were period poverty, lack of information and education on menstrual health management, lack of sanitary menstrual hygiene products, and a lack of sanitary toilet facilities, adding that ultimately, girls and women stood the risk of infection and disease during menstruation.
She said championing the event in Ghana, HFFG, AAWID and YSF were national community-based non-governmental organisations that focused on empowering women, children and young people including persons with disabilities to live to their full potential in the most dignified manner.
These organisations, she said, had decided to collaborate to implement projects, especially on menstrual hygiene management, with support from Real Relief, Global Goals World Cup (GGWC) and United Nations Youth Association of Denmark (UNYA Denmark).
