A Kaduna-based Non-Governmental Organisation, Lizzy Anche Foundation, on Thursday donated menstrual pads to 50 vulnerable secondary school girls in the state.
Chief Executive Officer of the foundation, Elizabeth Anche, who made the donation at Government Secondary School ungwa Sauri, said the gesture was to commemorate the 2022 Menstrual Hygiene Day.
She added that the gesture was in collaboration with the State Contributory Health Management Authority Scheme.
According to her, the distribution is also to create awareness on menstrual hygiene and improve their healthcare.
“With the free sanitary pads, it will not only improve their healthcare, menstrual hygiene, but it will also boost their confidence and comfort within and outside the community.
“It’s a very good day and I am excited that we have taken this bold step to educate young girls on menstrual hygiene.
“I know what it feels like to not have menstrual kits as a young girl during my circle.
”This is why I am excited that together with Kaduna State Contributory Health Management Authority, we provide these menstrual hygiene kits to 50 vulnerable school girls.
”We believe that this will take us a step further to making menstruation a normal fact of life by 2030.
“We believe that hygiene process is not only to be taken by a girl or woman alone, but also by the society through the provision of a friendly menstrual environment,” she said.
According to her, women and girls globally lack adequate facilities for menstrual hygiene management.
“Inadequate WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) facilities, particularly in public places, such as in schools, workplaces or health centers, can pose a major obstacle to women and girls.
“The lack of separate toilets with doors that can be safely closed, or the unavailability of means to dispose of used sanitary pads and water to wash hands, means that women and girls face challenges in maintaining their menstrual hygiene in a private, safe and dignified manner,” she said.
She added that a growing body of evidence shows that girls’ inability to manage their menstrual hygiene in schools, results in school absenteeism, which in turn has severe economic costs on their lives and on the country.
“The challenge menstruating girls and women face is often less tangible than simply the availability of infrastructure and is rooted in social norms and beliefs.
In many cultures, menstruating women are considered impure and are systematically excluded from participating in every-day activities, such as education, employment, and cultural and religious practices.
“Moreover, the taboos and stigmas attached to menstruation lead to an overall culture of silence around the topic, resulting in limited information on menstruation and menstrual hygiene.
“Such misinformation can have ramifications on the health and dignity of girls and women.
“Given the multiple challenges women and adolescent girls face, it is evident that promoting menstrual hygiene management is not only a sanitation matter; it is also an important step towards safeguarding the dignity, bodily integrity and overall life opportunities of women and girls.
In his remarks, the Director-General of Kaduna State Contributory Health Management Authority, Abubakar Hassan, urged the students to help sensitise their parents on the contributory health scheme to actualise universal health coverage in the state.
He described the contributory health scheme is a way of contributing funds for the payment of healthcare services by all residents of the state.
“The scheme will cover for health care services rendered to beneficiaries at their selected health care facilities.
“Individual premium for health insurance at the agency costs N10, 650 annually while the family premium costs N57,000 annually,” he said.
Also speaking, the Principal of the school, Ladi Musa, thanked the foundation and government for the gesture extended to the girls .
She said, “We are grateful because we have never experienced such gesture in this community.
” Most of the girls here are vulnerable as their parents cannot afford kits for them.
” Seeing this gesture today shows that the government has not forgotten us and we will forever be grateful.
NAN
