To commemorate Menstrual Hygiene Day 2021, on Friday, May 28, Adamu Atiku Foundation in collaboration with Paulash Community Development Initiative toured a few schools in Yola, where they sensitized adolescent girls on menstrual health and hygiene (MHH), and distributed personal hygiene kits.
This Initiative was taken in line with this year’s MH Day theme: “Action and investment in menstrual hygiene and health”.
The theme underscores the need to engage decision-makers to increase the priority and catalyze actions for MHH, at the global, national, and local levels.
Speaking to newsmen, the Program Coordinator and Executive Director of AA Foundation, Grace Togor Passa, emphasized on the importance of menstrual hygiene as a human right and stressed the need to avoid stigma, discrimination, and exclusion among women and girls as menstruation is a natural phenomenon for every woman.
‘’Menstrual hygiene is as crucial as other social movements and campaigns around the world, she said’’.
‘’If condoms are distributed freely, so should menstrual sanitary products.’’
Passa added that there needs to be more conversations on the subject so that governments, individuals, and other organizations can help break the silence and raise awareness about the negative norms around Menstrual Hygiene and Health (MHH).
Charity Anaja,a gender expert and PCDI Programme Officer, who was the resource person at the event, emphasized the need for menstrual hygiene to be integrated into Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) Programming as access to WASH, information, and sanitary products would reduce infections and increase better participation of girls in schools.
Charity added that one of the ways to achieve this is for organizations to make Menstrual Hygiene and Health(MHH) an integral part of their WASH policies.
Among the Schools that benefited from the outreach are Ladi Atiku Secondary School, Bekaji Secondary School, and Demsawo Secondary School.
The students were excited and thanked the organizers for the information and gesture.
