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 Madam Catherine Appiah-Pinkrah (right), Director in charge of General Administration, Ministry of Education, interacting with Ms Kati Csaba (left), Canadian High Commissioner to Ghana, after the event. Looking on is Ms Anne-Claire Dufay (2nd right), UNICEF Country Representative in Ghana. Picture: EDNA SALVO-KOTEY
Madam Catherine Appiah-Pinkrah (right), Director in charge of General Administration, Ministry of Education, interacting with Ms Kati Csaba (left), Canadian High Commissioner to Ghana, after the event. Looking on is Ms Anne-Claire Dufay (2nd right), UNICEF Country Representative in Ghana. Picture: EDNA SALVO-KOTEY

GES launches Menstrual Hygiene Guideline for schools

The Ghana Education Service (GES) has launched a menstrual hygiene guideline to improve the delivery of menstrual hygiene management (MHM) in schools.

Supported by UNICEF, the guideline is to assist stakeholders at all levels to implement actions for effective MHM programming and also provide an appropriate environment for girls through improved water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure and services.

The guideline is also intended to create awareness of menstrual hygiene, help girls to manage their menses hygienically, improve their school performance and reduce school dropout rate among young girls.

The guideline was launched in Accra yesterday during a ceremony to commemorate World Menstrual Hygiene Day, marked on May 28, every year.

The event was in partnership with the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), the Global Affairs Canada and supported by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection as well as the Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources.

Menstrual Hygiene Day

Menstrual Hygiene Day is a global advocacy platform that brings together the voices and actions of non-profits, government agencies, individuals, the private sector and the media to promote good menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) for all women and girls.

This year’s event was on the theme: “More action and investment in menstrual health and hygiene”.

Leaving no girl out

In a speech read on his behalf, the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, called on stakeholders to work towards improving MHM to ensure that no girl was left behind.

He said the move, when achieved, would help the country to meet the target of the Sustainable Development Goal Four (SDG 4) which was ensuring inclusive and equitable education for all.

“It will also help us to achieve targets SDGs Six and Five, that is ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation,” he stated.

He said the ministry was committed to promoting hygienic practices around menstrual hygiene management, as well as providing the necessary menstrual hygiene products and infrastructure.

Development partners

The Country Representative, UNICEF Ghana, Ms Annie Claire Dufay, speaking to the Daily Graphic called for more investment in promoting MHM.

“We need to invest in every adolescent girl's future with more gender-friendly sanitation facilities in schools, adequate nutrition and information for girls and boys. Let’s leave no girl behind,” she said.

She also called for mainstreaming MHM and adolescent reproductive health education topics in the curriculum to provide equal access to information for girls and boys.

“UNICEF invites the government and private sector to substantially reduce the prices of sanitary pads and other materials for girls and women, whether they are produced locally or imported,” she added.

Sanitary Pad taxes

The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Ms Sarah Adwoa Safo, who delivered her address in a recorded video, said the ministry was in talks with the Ministry of Finance to remove taxes on sanitary pads.

She also expressed the hope that through advocacy programmes on menstrual hygiene, the negative social norms surrounding menstrual hygiene would be a thing of the past.

The Canadian High Commissioner to Ghana, Ms Kati Csaba, who also spoke at the event, reiterated the call to prioritise menstrual hygiene in the country, urging stakeholders to come on board in that regard.

Broadcast Journalist, Gifty Anti, also urged the government to take immediate action to address challenges associated with menstrual hygiene in schools.

Personalities present at the event included the Director-General of the GES, Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa; the Country Director of KOICA Ghana, Mr Moon Heon Kong, and the Chairman of the CONIWAS, Mr Attah Arhin.

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