MP, NGO support girls in deprived schools
A non-governmental organisation (NGO), Inspire Today Foundation, has partnered the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tongu, Mr Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, to support girls in deprived schools in his constituency.
The foundation is a network organisation nurturing a nationwide movement of female leaders through a concerted effort to achieve Sustainable Development Goals 3 and 5.
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As part of the NGO’s project for the year, more than 4,000 menstruating girls in the Volta Region were supported with the necessary resources to stay in school.
This is part of several efforts to tackle period poverty and the North Tongu District received its fair share of the support from the NGO.
Beneficiary schools were given sanitary towels, bathing soap, roll-ons, shaving sticks and educational materials.
Ablakwa, expressed gratitude to the NGO and stressed the need to protect the girl child.
‘We are determined to protect the girl-child so she can achieve her full potentials. As a result, we are reworking on the local laws governing the constituency, so that young men who defile innocent and vulnerable girls will receive stiffer punishment.
“We are also constantly working with the district education office to give girls the necessary resources to enable them to stay in school,” the MP said.
He expressed the willingness to continue the partnership with Inspire Today, adding that it was the surest way to empower girls and keep them in school.
“I want to use the opportunity to wish all women and girls a happy International Women’s Day,’’ he said.
Tax
Founder and CEO of Inspire Today, Ms Etornam Sey, stressed the need for government to review the 20 per cent tax on sanitary towels so that the rural girl could afford it.
‘The estimated cost of one pad in Ghana averages to about GH¢5. Organisations that support healthy menstruation management, like Inspire
Today, believe the Ghanaian government should remove the tax on these materials’.
The project was sponsored by the Ghana Chamber of Mines, Wilmar Africa, Step publishers, Firstklass Shipping Services, Fine print and benevolent individuals.