As part of efforts to promote menstrual hygiene and reduce absenteeism in school among young girls, Community Aid for Rural Development (CARD-Ghana), with funding from Plan International Ghana, has launched an initiative to provide free sanitary pads to girls in junior high schools in Wa.
The initiative is under the She Leads Project and is being implemented by Plan International Ghana.
Known as Sanitary Pad Banks for Junior High School girls, the initiative is being implemented in five JHS in the Wa Municipality of the Upper West Region.
The initiative aims to provide free pads to over 500 girls in the participating schools to improve menstrual hygiene, empower them to take on leadership roles in their schools and communities and conduct awareness workshops on menstrual health and leadership.
The participating schools are the Chegli Islamic JHS, the Sagu R/C JHS, the Kperisi M/A JHS, the Nyagli M/A JHS and the Nakori/ Chansa M/A JHS, all in the Wa Municipality.
Pilot
Speaking at the launch, the Executive Director of CARD Ghana, Ernestina Biney, said that since December 2023, CARD Ghana has successfully piloted the pad bank at two institutions: the Wa Methodist School for the Blind and the Simeon Diedong Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies through the Women’s Commissioner of the university.
She said that following the pilot’s success, CARD Ghana decided to expand the initiative to five additional schools, “ensuring more girls can manage their menstruation with dignity and stay in school.”
She said the initiative was expected to increase school attendance among girls, improve menstrual health awareness in schools and communities and reduce stigma around menstruation.
“When girls have access to sanitary products, they stay in school, gain confidence and become leaders.
“This Pad Bank initiative is a step towards breaking barriers in girls’ education,” she said.
She appealed to the Ghana Education Service (GES) to find ways of adopting the Pad Bank Initiative, especially in the JHS, to enable girls to access the pads when they experience periods in school.
She said this project could be adopted under the government’s free sanitary pad initiative.
She further appealed to community stakeholders to find ways to stock the banks in the future.
This, Ms Biney explained, was to ensure the initiative’s sustainability when the project ends.
“This is a community project, not for CARD Ghana, so we want the community also to adopt it and support the smooth operation of the sanitary pad bank,” she said.
Support your daughters
The Wa Municipal Girl Child Coordinator, Pognaa Amamata Mumuni, appealed to parents, especially fathers, to be interested in the welfare of their adolescent girls and buy sanitary pads.
She urged them not to leave the burden solely on the mothers, but also to support them in purchasing sanitary pads for their daughters.
This, she said, would ensure that the girls would not fall prey to any man and would not cut short their education through teenage pregnancy.
