Inspire Today, an NGO known for championing the course of girls in deprived communities by providing them with sanitary pads, other personal hygiene items, and educational materials, has marked this year’s International Day of the Girl Child with a little of six thousand girls in Yilo Krobo.

The NGO teamed up with four other institutions, Wilmar Africa, CouldYou, Step Publishers, and Elpis Children’s Foundation to extend support to these vulnerable girls in the Yilo Krobo Municipality of the Eastern Region of Ghana.

The Yilo Krobo community over the past years continues to record high cases of teenage pregnancies, and child marriages largely due to lack of education and poverty.

There are also recorded cases of parental neglect, poor supervision, sexual harassment, and late enrolment of girls in school just to mention a few.

The partnership between Inspire Today and the rest of the organizations helped the girls to receive education on girls’ rights and the potential to become influential when you take your lessons seriously.

The girls from 15 different clusters of schools were given sanitary pads, bathing soap and washing detergent, shaving sticks, deodorants, and reading materials.

CouldYou, an international non-governmental organization dedicated to curating, proving, and scaling sustainable solutions to period poverty and malaria, donated 500 menstrual cups to girls in Yilo Krobo Senior High School.

This is aimed at finding a sustainable menstrual hygiene practice, one that does not require investing in monthly pads. The CouldYou menstrual cup is a menstrual absorbent that can be used for 5-10 years and therefore produces significantly less waste than other MHH materials.

While cups require water for boiling, they need far less than reusable pads or cloths. The cup allows its user to safely handle menstruation without reoccurring costs for many years.

Country Manager of CouldYou, Kofi Kyeremateng Nyanteng explained that the partnership with Inspire Today allows his team to support girls and marginalized women to win the fight against period poverty, which is a threat to their health and career development.

The Elpis Children’s Foundation’s mission is to encourage and support Black families in pursuing private adoption in the United States and financially support nonprofit organizations that serve orphaned, needy, and abandoned children in the Republic of Ghana.

The international NGO funded 250 menstrual cups from CouldYou to support girls in Yilo Krobo Senior High School to mark International Day of the Girl Child 2024.

Marketing Manager of Wilmar Africa Ewuraba Adusei underscored the importance of pushing the girl child to achieve excellence which is why it gave the girls 3 months’ supply of soap items to ensure that the girls practice clean and hygienic menstruation so they can go to school and remain in school.

Executive Director for Inspire Today, Etornam Sey, called on the government, the Ghana Education Service (GES), corporate institutions, and even churches to join forces to make issues of menstrual hygiene among girl children a priority.

She stressed that challenges arising out of menstruation should not be the reason why girls cannot pursue their dreams.

She suggested that concerted efforts must be made by all stakeholders to end menstrual poverty among school children.

Ghanaian musician Lamisi launched her foundation at the Alliance Franciase on September 14, 2024.

The Lamisi Fata Foundation aims to raise awareness about menstrual hygiene education and the distribution of reusable and disposable sanitary pads for girls particularly in northern Ghana.

The programme dubbed ‘Concert for Change’, was laced with performances of authentic African music inspired by her Northern influence.

Lamisi thrilled the Crowd with an energetic performance along with her neo-traditional quartet band. The audience could not sit still but joined in singing and clapping every song performed.

As a prelude to the concert Lamisi hosted a conference dubbed ‘Pad it Forward: Sustainable Solution for Menstrual Hygiene.’ This impactful event featured engaging panel discussions, Q&A sessions, exhibitions and demonstrations of reusable sanitary Pads.

The conference drew participants from the French Embassy, Amnesty Ghana, women’s groups, students from second-cycle institutions and university students.

Afrika Nyornu, an NGO focused on menstrual health promotion, says it is targeting to train one thousand school girls in menstrual hygiene management in 2024, to help improve the menstrual hygiene of young girls across Ghana, and to reduce girls’ absenteeism in schools during their menstruation period.

In addition, the organisation says it aims to supply free sanitary pads to these beneficiaries to help alleviate the issue of inaccessibility to these pads by girls who are less fortunate to afford them.

This was made known at the Menstrual Hygiene Day 2024 celebration in Mawuli School in the Ho Municipality of the Volta Region.

It was marked on the theme “Together for a Period-Friendly World”, and brought representatives from 17 schools to raise awareness about the importance of menstrual health and hygiene.

According to the founder and Executive Director of Afrika Nyornu, Mrs Gifty Maloe Nartey, the organisation remains dedicated to its mission of promoting menstrual health, since they have been inspired by the support and engagement shown by the community.

“Together, we are building a period-friendly world where every girl has access to the resources and education she needs to thrive. By coming together, we are taking crucial steps toward breaking the stigma associated with menstruation and ensuring that every girl can manage her period with dignity and confidence,” she said while delivering a speech at the gathering.

She also provided invaluable insights into the effective management of menstrual health and debunked many myths and misconceptions surrounding menstruation.

The Deputy Municipal Director of Education for Ho, Cynthia Ayim, who played an integral role in inspiring the young participants, emphasised the need for confidence and openness regarding menstruation, stating, “Together, we can break the silence by telling the world that menstruation is a natural biological process yet it is often surrounded by stigma and silence. Talking about it openly can break the misconception, reduce shame, and build a supportive community where every girl feels supported and comfortable seeking help and advice”.

The Country Manager for Indus Life Sciences, Mr Prem Kumar explained that vitamins and iron are important for young girls of reproductive age. He highlighted how essential nutrients contribute to the overall well-being of young girls, helping them manage the physical demands of menstruation.

All participants received period boxes containing a disposable sanitary pad which will last for two years, a reusable sanitary pad, Paracetamol tablets, Zincovit tablets, and MIKSI products.

Mrs Gifty Maloe Nartey said the success of Menstrual Hygiene Day 2024 in Ho Municipality is a testament to the collective efforts of everyone involved, particularly the generous sponsors.

“We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Indus Life Sciences Limited for their significant contributions, including the donation of 15,000 pieces of Zincovit multivitamins.

“Additionally, RICHDAD Investment donated 1,500 pieces of Richcare sanitary pads, and Evivi Foods provided meals for all participants with their premium Evivi Long Grain Rice and Evivi Chicken.

Every participant also received MIKSI products from Promasidor Ghana, and Voltic Ghana kept everyone refreshed with water.

“We are deeply thankful to all individual donors for their support,” she mentioned.

President of Soccer for Dreamers, a Non-Governmental Organisation in the United States, Sylvia Akwaboah, has urged female footballers to practice safe menstrual hygiene to stay healthy. 

The organisation, in partnership with the Ghana Football Association donated football gear and menstrual cups to female teams who were participating in the Women’s Regional Championship in Kyebi, Eastern Region.

As part of the donation, a menstrual cup talk was held to educate the footballers on the need to practice safe menstrual health.

Speaking during the session, Madam Akwaboah said “It is important to practice safe menstrual hygiene, I think sometimes as women we forget the importance of menstrual hygiene and how to go about it”.

 She said there was a need for females to stay clean before beginning any menstrual process which would aid combat menstrual poverty.

The President noted that unsafe menstrual practices have effects of attracting infections hence the need to champion the campaign for females to stay healthy, most especially footballers.

The ladies were taken through different stages of how to use menstrual cups which would help save cost.

Participants of the health talk were Kotoku Rush Ladies, Anlo Ladies, FC Epiphany, Sea Lions FC, Jonina Ladies FC and Hassport Ladies FC.

Items donated to the teams were boots, shin guards, jerseys, balls and many others.  The event was coordinated by Mr. Stephane Lecosson, Soccer for Dreamers Country Representative. 

Celebrating the world over a “World Menstrual Hygiene Day” is simply impressive. Whoever put that day up for critical awareness of menstrual issues must be commended.

Briefly, it is a day that the world is being asked to create awareness in whatever possible way and break the myths and taboo that sometimes shroud menstruation, a natural occurrence in the lives of girls and women. It is most appropriate in one’s view that the World Health Organisation (WHO) prefers to refer to it as Menstrual Health, because this natural phenomenon involves the health and well-being of women.

Growing up, what the average mother was likely to talk to a daughter about her periods was more on the possibility of getting pregnant and therefore care with male relationships. Leaving home for boarding school, a mother will provide enough sanitary pads and go further to educate the daughter on its use. 

Unlike what is obtained in today’s school curriculum, there was not much classroom education on personal hygiene or menstrual health for girls. We saw friends who went through a harrowing week of menstrual pain whenever it was their period. Some just had to be confined to bed, those days.  

Others endured days of heavy flow of blood and with some severe cramps every time they had to go through the monthly cycle. It was a dread for those who suffered from their monthly cycle.   

Today things have changed tremendously. To know that at the global stage, menstruation of girls and women is being pushed forward on national agenda with country specific focus because of its health implications and likely implication on national health budgets is commendable.

Traditions

Menstruation has been seen in some cultures, as a taboo, even in this twenty-first century. In some traditions a woman is considered unclean and unfit for certain assignments especially relating to chieftaincy issues.  Though discriminatory, this practice, unfortunately, still has a place today.

I learnt from someone, to my dismay, that polygamy was a known tradition perpetrated by men so they could enjoy their continued sex life. Such men, I was told, used menstrual periods to space their visits to their second or third wives switching to the wife not in her period whenever they pleased.

These are some of the traditional negative thoughts and practices that one believes have been ditched for the better. The institution of World Menstrual Hygiene and Health Day definitely has changed things for the better.

The critical education being brought to the world’s attention during this important period is emphasising the need for girls and tomorrow’s mothers to have an early awareness that menstrual health and how to stay through it hygienically can help prevent infections and reduce odour. 

Early awareness

Early awareness also helps anyone going through their period to stay well and comfortable. Thankfully, unlike years ago, there are a few menstrual products on the market today to help with knowledge on how to stay clean and healthy in one’s period.

The WHO has escalated the education and awareness beyond just hygiene to also include health and well-being.  According to WHO, menstrual health has been placed on the global health education and human rights.

They have drawn attention to such experiences as shame and embarrassment because some of the girls and women going through their periods do not have the means to manage their periods.

WHO therefore calls for the world to recognise and frame menstruation as a health issue “with physical, psychological and social dimensions”.

School absenteeism

And how true.  Just a few years ago, for example our Ministry of Education pushed seriously for underprivileged school girls to be provided with free menstrual pads. The case was that there was a lot of school absenteeism from girls with one of the reasons being menstruation. 

The argument was that due to inability to afford pads and therefore the use of improvised materials for their menstrual flow, there was accidental staining of clothes.  This thus earned them ridicule, especially from male students. For this reason therefore, the girls chose to stay at home until their period was over.

When the Ministry started supplying the free sanitary pads, school attendance by girls was said to have increased in those areas piloted. So it is important that dealing with awareness and how to manage menstrual periods can lessen the social and psychological burdens of girls and women in that bracket.

The focused education on May 28 each year therefore is welcome news. Parents, teachers, older sisters and above all girls are being spoken to on that day and being reminded of the responsibilities and the management towards health and hygiene during those critical cycle of menstrual flow.

Happily, the message seems to have gone down very well to the extent that this year for example, one saw in the news and on social media, lots of activities including symposia, demonstrations, education and distribution of free sanitary pads in schools. 

Last week, many organisations and individuals responded to the call and funded the free supply of sanitary pads backed with demonstrations on how to use and dispose of them.

May 28 each year should continue to bring not only awareness but goodwill from people who sympathise with the social, psychological and health issues of menstruation to help the needy and widen the knowledge and education on menstrual health and hygiene in communities.

An oil and gas company, Yinson Production West Africa in collaboration with the Ahanta West Directorate of Education, has launched the Yinson Girls’ Education programme to strengthen and increase the interest of female students in STEM education and eliminate period poverty.

The programme is estimated to positively impact approximately 750 female students from upper primary and junior high school levels in the Ahanta West Municipality of the Western Region this year.

According to a 2023 report by Action Aid UK, Period poverty is a global issue affecting those who do not have access to safe, hygienic menstrual products they need, or who are unable to manage their periods with dignity, sometimes due to community stigma and sanctions. Studies show that 1 in 10 girls in Africa miss school because they do not have access to menstrual products, or because there are no safe, private toilets to use at school.

The same report indicated that some girls miss as much as 20% of their school year, and some drop out of school altogether. There are also serious health risks if menstruation is managed in a hygienic manner.

For this reason, Yinson Ghana’s Corporate Social Responsibility Coordinator, Mr Edward Mensah, said Yinson is committed to improving the lives of people in its host communities, and that the programme was in line with Yinson’s mission of promoting quality education and effective learning in its communities.

He again pointed out that aside from education, good health, well-being and gender equality, there are some of the UN Sustainable Development Goals that Yinson is aligned with, “and these are the main drivers for initiating this programme.”

He encouraged female students to take advantage of the programme to enable them to have a more focused academic regime to excel in their studies. He said Yinson would organize a programme to promote STEM studies for female students later in the year.

The maiden edition of the programme would run for a week amid health talks.

The 300 hundred girls who attended the launch each went home with a pack of sanitary pads, while some 450 packs would be distributed in the Municipality within the week.

Girls Education Coordinator in the Ahanta West Municipality, Ernestina Kangah, spoke about how limited menstruation knowledge, lack of proper facilities and low support for female students has led to high absenteeism, poor academic performance, and early dropout, leading to other social vices among girls, and impeding their quest for a better future.

The Community Relations Officer of the Petroleum Commission, Sakyiwaa Darko, advised the girls to stay away from early sexual behaviours and see menstruation as a sign of progression in any girl’s life which was critical.

She encouraged parents and community members to help eliminate the misconceptions about menstruation and support the girl child to properly go through that cycle.

A Public Health Nurse and Adolescent Mentor at the Ahanta West Municipal Health Directorate, Ms. Amen Morrison had a very lively interaction with the girls on Menstrual Hygiene.

She talked about some misconceptions such as early delivery to halt pain associated with menses, and the claim that two to three days of menstrual flow indicates the presence of a disease.

She encouraged the girls to dispel such rumors and seek advice on any issues bothering them at the nearest health facility.

The Municipal Director of Education, Mr George Effah, said girls’ education was at the heart of the Ghana Education Service, and for that matter, the Ministry of Education would keep on supporting and collaborating with any institution that has the interest of girls at heart.

He emphasized the pivotal role girls and women play in the socio-economic development of a nation, saying “Dr. Kweggyir Aggrey of blessed memory once said, “If you educate a man, you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman, you educate a whole nation.”

He described the intervention as a key step to eliminating all hurdles that impede girls’education.

The Municipal Education Director said good menstrual health and hygiene practices could prevent infections, reduce body odors, and help the girls stay comfortable during their periods in school.

As part of the Menstrual Hygiene Day celebration, Brave Foundation has announced its significant contribution towards menstrual equity through the Brave Sanitary Pad Fund initiative to ensure that over 500 girls in some of Ghana’s most deprived regions have access to sanitary pads for a whole year.

According to the team, the Brave Sanitary Pad Fund – School Adoption Program is a unique programme that helps identify girls and young women between 13-24 years in dire need alongside menstrual hygiene and sexual reproductive health education.

“Our 505 beneficiaries, chosen via a thorough needs assessment, will be provided with a total of 60,600 disposable sanitary pad units across the span of one year.”

Marking the day, Brave celebrated with beneficiaries from the Apedwa SDA Primary School, in collaboration with Medley Choir Ghana as part of our School Adoption Program, which forms part of our support for the 505 girls across selected regions.

The beneficiaries include 100 girls each from North-Eastern Christian Academy, Yendi, Northern region, and Our Lady of Apostles College of Education, Cape-Coast, Central region, 150 girls across three Cluster of schools in Ahafo region, 100 girls from Kyabobo Girls SHS, Nkwanta, Oti region, and 55 girls from Apedwa SDA Primary School, Eastern region.

The key partner and supporter for the majority of the free provision of the disposable sanitary pads is Planera UK, producers of Fluus flushable sanitary pads.

Fluus’ flushable pads are unique because they are not only user-friendly but also environmentally friendly, setting a new standard for menstrual hygiene products globally.

The remaining sanitary pad units will be supplemented through our innovative business model of retailing for revenue-generation for impact.

The initiative also has Transmed Ghana Ltd, the exclusive distributor for Always Sanitary Pads in Ghana as partners, who will provide Always pads at a discounted wholesale price to support the revenue generation for the Support Fund.

The initiative is calling on the public to support this cause by making direct donations or purchasing sanitary pads through us for personal use and/or sanitary pad care kits to be donated directly to girls within our School Adoption Program.

Tamara Magwashu was bullied at school as her family was not rich enough to afford sanitary pads.

Now 27, she grew up in a poor township in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province and watched her single mother use old rags during menstruation.

Tamara would take at least a week off school while she was on her period, and had to learn how to fold and use the rags, which were very uncomfortable.

That scarring experience has motivated her as an adult.

“I made a choice deep within me that I didn’t want anyone else to go through what I did,” she tells the BBC.

“So I had the idea to create my own company, to eradicate period poverty.”

She now delivers sanitary pads to hundreds of schools in the Eastern Cape.

‘Grew up in a shack’

Her work has been recognised by her community and she was nominated for this year’s Forbes magazine 30 under 30 list, which showcases young campaigners and entrepreneurs from around the world.

Describing her upbringing in the township of Duncan Village in the city of East London, Tamara says she has lived her entire life “in a shack – never had any windows, never had any [piped] water”.

She decided to get part-time jobs after school to try and make ends meet for her family – and to help when she was on her period.

“I started to work whenever I could around my studies so that I could buy sanitary pads because for me those rags were very uncomfortable.”

Tamara also says that as a teenager she found it very difficult to understand why she was getting period pains, because there was very little education about menstruation.

She was not alone in this struggle.

Anti-poverty NGO The Borgen Project estimates that seven million South African girls cannot afford to buy sanitary products.

Across the globe, the World Bank says that at least 500 million women and girls lack access to the facilities they need during their periods.

UN Women reckons that 1.25 billion women and girls worldwide have no safe, private toilet to go to.

And that is the case for Tamara and her family. They share a public toilet with around 50 others in her township.

Despite South Africa being one of the wealthiest countries on the continent, the young businesswoman thinks it only really “shines from the outside”.

When she went to university in Johannesburg to study public relations, Tamara managed to start saving some money from her student loan as well as income from her part-time jobs in order to start her own business, with a view to changing things for women and girls in her community.

She had to be self-sufficient as she had tried to get a business loan but no-one would take a risk on her as she did not have any assets to her name.

She eventually launched the business in 2021 with the aim of selling period products at an affordable price for disadvantaged women.

She called it Azosule, which means “to wipe away every tear from their eyes” in South Africa’s Xhosa language.

It also has a charitable arm, using a portion of its profits. Tamara created the “She needs you” campaign where she goes into schools in rural areas to deliver pads for free.

The Borgen Project estimates around 30% of girls do not attend school there while they are on their period because they do not have access to sanitary products.

‘It was like Christmas’

Her former secondary school headteacher is proud of her work.

“She has helped the girls so much. She has brought so many pads that the girls have enough for six months – it was like Christmas for them,” Thazea Mnyaka says.

“These girls come from disadvantaged backgrounds where their only meals can come from school, how can they buy sanitary products?”

In addition, Tamara does local pad drives on the street, where she hands out her products in marginalised communities.

Yazini Kuse is a journalist, also from Duncan Village, and she was the first reporter to cover what Tamara was doing.

“I was captivated by her work. She’s advocating for the dignity of young girls and women’s human rights because we don’t have much.

“She’s working towards restoring that,” she tells the BBC.

“Despite being in that situation of poverty herself, she’s trying to improve the lives of others, which is amazing – she’s a walking testimony of the importance of this.”

There are others in the country working on the same issue.

Nokuzola Ndwandwe is a campaigner from Durban who successfully got a sales tax on tampons scrapped in South Africa, and is working to get a bill passed that focuses on menstrual hygiene.

The Menstrual Health Rights Bill is backed by a collective of 31 organisations which are campaigning for free period products and want the South African government to recognise menstrual health as a human rights issue.

She says: “We wanted [the tax] scrapped on products because they’re expensive. We are in discussions with key members of the state and UN women.

“It’s important that we empower young women to take action. Women and girls in rural areas like Tamara’s should continue to raise their voices and come forward.”

Tamara is ambitious and wants to eventually expand her work to other African countries. She also wants men to be aware of the importance of breaking down taboos.

“Period poverty is not a women’s issue, it’s a societal issue,” she says, “and until we can understand that we are not going to move forward.”

Ghana is a country in West Africa whose cultural and traditional beliefs are influential in shaping societal norms, including menstrual hygiene.

Unfortunately, the lack of understanding and access to proper menstrual hygiene products continues to affect many Ghanaian girls and women, causing them to feel shame and discomfort during their periods.

In addition to this, the government’s imposition of a 20% luxury tax on menstrual hygiene products has made it even more difficult for these women to access the products they need.

Menstrual hygiene is a public health concern affecting millions of women across the globe. In Ghana, a significant number of women do not have access to adequate and affordable menstrual hygiene products, particularly in rural areas. In many cases, women use dirty rags, leaves, or newspapers during their periods as they cannot afford proper sanitary pads or tampons.

These makeshift products not only put women’s health at risk, but they also increase discomfort, leading to missing school or work during their periods.

The government’s imposition of a 20% luxury tax on menstrual hygiene products is a double blow to women who already face a lack of access to these products. Despite the fact that sanitary pads are essential hygiene products and not luxury items, the government continues to impose the tax, which disproportionately affects women from low-income households who cannot afford them.

This taxation policy has been in place since 2015, with the government earning millions of cedis annually from it. The intention of the tax was to increase revenue for the government, but it has had an adverse effect on vulnerable groups, particularly women.

According to UNESCO, most girls are absent from school for four days in a month and end up losing 13 learning days equivalent in every school term.

In an academic year of nine months, a girl loses 39 learning days, equivalent to six weeks of learning time, due to a lack of sanitary pads.

This situation has dire consequences for the lives of girls.

It is in this light the Ghana Civil Society Organizations Platform on SDGs together with its network members including the Human Rights Reporters Ghana, Africa Education Watch, Renel Ghana Foundation and other like-minded CSOs working within the health and education sectors of Ghana have demonstrated their dedication and passion towards the issue and are relentless through their advocacy campaigns to put pressure on government to do the needful so as to bring about the desired change.

The campaigners are with the strongest view that any policy that discriminates against a section of its population and pushes them into poverty has no place in an inclusive and democratic state hence the need to be proactive in their advocacy drives towards the urgent removal of the 20% luxury tax on menstrual hygiene products to address the menstrual health issues of our women and girls in Ghana.

It is disheartening to know that Ghana experiences a significant lack of access to clean and affordable menstrual products as well as a lack of knowledge about basic menstrual hygiene practices. The taxes on sanitary pads have made the product very expensive and inaccessible to many low-income households, which must choose between the pads and competing needs.

The estimated cost of one pad in Ghana averages to about Twenty-five Ghana Cedis (GH₵ 25) equivalent to 2.15 US dollars makes it difficult for girls and women in the rural areas to afford.

The government of Ghana presently charges a luxury tax of 20% and an additional 12.5% VAT on sanitary pads. The fact that this tax is directly targeted at females for a natural occurrence in their reproductive process they have no choice or control over makes the tax highly unjust and immoral. The choice of whether to keep its people clean and safe or not is one that a state should never have to present to its people, particularly to the vulnerable sections of society.

Removing the 20% luxury tax on menstrual hygiene products is essential to addressing menstrual hygiene issues in Ghana, and the government must take urgent action.  Indeed, it is a fact that Ghana’s policy is not in line with the United Nations’ goal of ensuring good menstrual health and hygiene by 2030. Women face enough challenges with menstruation, and the imposition of a tax on menstrual hygiene products only makes matters worse.

Furthermore, Ghanaian cultural and traditional beliefs stigmatize menstruation and contribute to the lack of understanding about menstrual hygiene. Many people in Ghana consider menstruation as dirty and shameful, and, as a result, women are reluctant to talk about it or seek help. This lack of awareness marginalizes women who are already struggling to access menstrual hygiene products.

To address this challenge, governments and NGOs must work together to bring about behavioural change education on menstrual hygiene, both within households and schools.

It is necessary to break the silence around menstruation, break the stigma surrounding it, and provide accurate information to people of all genders. By educating the masses about menstrual health, we can increase demand for menstrual hygiene products, thereby increasing women’s access to them.

In addition to removing the luxury tax, there is a need for government intervention to make menstrual hygiene products more readily available and accessible to all women, regardless of their socio-economic status.

The government must create policies that provide subsidies for women who cannot afford these products. This intervention will ensure that women who are below the poverty line do not miss out on vital sanitary pads and tampons.

Therefore, the Ghanaian government must take menstrual hygiene issues seriously and take immediate steps to remove the 20% luxury tax on menstrual hygiene products. The government needs to work closely with NGOs and health professionals to increase awareness about menstrual hygiene and address the stigmatization surrounding it. This will help create an enabling environment to reduce the spread of infections and enhance overall public health. A tax break on menstrual hygiene products is an essential step in this direction.

In summary, Ghana needs to address menstrual hygiene issues urgently. The 20% luxury tax on menstrual hygiene products must be removed, and subsidized policies must be implemented to make them more available and accessible to all women, regardless of their socio-economic status.

Furthermore, education and awareness campaigns aimed at educating people, especially girls, women, and their households, on menstrual hygiene should be conducted. Building partnerships with NGOs, health professionals, and communities will create a conducive environment to promote menstrual hygiene and make necessary interventions to help vulnerable groups.

Meanwhile, as Ghana joins the world to commemorate the 2023 Menstrual Hygiene Day which falls on May 28, 2023, the Ghana Civil Society Organizations Platform on SDGs and its network members including the Send Ghana, Human Rights Reporters Ghana (HRRG), Renel Ghana Foundation, Norsaac, Youth Advocate Ghana (YAG) and the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) among others CSOs championing issues of health are with the strongest voice calling on the government to prioritize issues of menstrual hygiene and endeavour to take urgent action to scrap the 20% luxury tax on menstrual hygiene products to help address the menstrual hygiene issues confronted by our women and girls in the country.

As part of activities earmarked for the celebration, the campaigners barring any unforeseen circumstances will be rallying around #MyPeriodMattersCampaign including holding a series of activities to strongly advocate, drum home their campaign messages and bring pressure to bear on government to do the needful.

A similar event is also expected to hold on Sunday, May 28  2023, at Jawani, a village situated in the East Mamprusi District of the North East Region where SmartRiz Africa, a non-governmental organization in collaboration with the Future African Leaders Foundation, INSPIRE HER and the Human Rights Reporters Ghana among others would take up the bold initiative to sensitise the village folks on the significance of the global day celebration, the essence of maintaining menstrual hygiene, the need to support girls to get access to menstrual pads without hitches and above all use the occasion to call on government to help prioritize urgent removal of 20% luxury tax on menstrual hygiene products in order to promote menstrual hygiene in Ghana.

The anticipation is that the mammoth durbar would be climaxed with the distribution of over 1,000 free sanitary pads among girls to ease their burdens during their menstrual periods.

Inspire to Rise, a non-profit organization which focuses on mentorship, menstruation hygiene education and advocacy, in collaboration with Futurestars Charity an education-through-sports charity have launched an initiative dubbed “Periods of Change”, aimed at providing menstrual hygiene and health education to girls in schools across the country.

The Periods of Change project seeks to promote greater awareness about menstruation by educating pupils to better understand this biological process combined with the donation of sanitary items to girls in participating schools to reduce the stigma and ensure that they do not miss school during their monthly cycles.

In many developing countries, girls face significant challenges in managing their periods, including a lack of access to menstrual products, clean water, and adequate sanitation facilities. This can lead to a range of negative consequences, including social stigma, missed school days, and even health problems.

Ghana’s 2021 Policy Brief on Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) indicates that over 7 million women and girls in Ghana menstruate. Available data indicates that one out of five girls between the ages 15-19 feel excluded from school, social and home activities during their period.

The policy brief also revealed that out of the necessity to cover basic needs unmet by caregivers, including purchase of sanitary pads, many girls are exploited. Additionally, the brief indicates that majority of girls do not have accurate information on menstruation before their first period.

The “Periods of Change” initiative seeks to change the narrative and help address these challenges through engagements and by bringing all stakeholders together to drive sustainable solutions for girls, especially those from disadvantaged homes and communities.

Founder of Inspire to Rise, Wendy Laryea indicated the collaboration with Futurestars Charity and Trashy Bags Africa affords is testament that when the right partners converge around a problem, lives are transformed.

She said “now more than ever, we need to take concrete action to protect our girls by ensuring they have access to information about their periods and that they can freely speak to their parents and caregivers about concerns they may have.

“Additionally, we must make sanitary pads available and affordable for these girls and young women. One of the ways we can do so is to remove the 20% tax imposed on sanitary pads, which has produced the undesired consequence of increasing prices beyond the levels many can afford”.

“I call on all stakeholders to lend their voice and help address the menstruation related challenges that girls and young women face in our schools and communities, primarily the stigma, ridicule and exploitation. This partnership is an example of what is possible when we all converge around a problem that requires collective action. Our gratitude to Futurestars Charity, Trashy Bags Africa, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development office and all organizations that have and continue to support this effort,” she concluded.

The first phase of the project aims to provide free menstrual pads, panties, soaps, and hand sanitizers to over 600 school girls.

The Development Director for UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in Ghana, Beth Cadman OBE, expressed the willingness of British High Commission to support the initiative to change the lives of young girls in Ghana.

The Director of Futurestars Charity, Simon Milton was confident the partner organizations can do more by working together and called on other likeminded organizations to come on board.

The launch event brought together partners and stakeholders who pledged their support for the purchase of the “Oblayo Bag” which is a recycled bag that contains menstruation products.

The Operations Manager of Trashy Bags Africa, Nick Parish indicated the project aligns with the organizations pillars of recycling, education and female empowerment.

One Whole Future Foundation, a non-governmental organization has launched a comprehensive campaign aimed at equipping and supporting adolescent girls in rural areas of the country with sanitary pads as well as educating them on the need for menstrual hygiene.

The campaign, dubbed “Period Matters, Pad a Girl” was launched on Friday, May 27, 2022, as part of the organization’s efforts at eliminating Menstrual Health Management (MHM) illiteracy among 15,000 Ghanaian girls.

Globally, five hundred (500) million young girls who menstruate are estimated to lack access to menstrual products and hygiene facilities.

In Ghana, however, it is no different. Girls in most rural communities cannot afford sanitary towels and as a result, are unable to go to school, work or otherwise participate in daily life activities.

In a statement issued and signed by Executive Director, Madam Akosua Manu said the campaign is meant to reduce by at least 50 percent (50%) menstrual-related absenteeism in targeted communities in line with the organization’s vision of creating a world where no woman or girl is kept from realizing her full potential because of her period.

The campaign will be piloted in target areas like Upper Denkyira East in the Central Region with targeted schools benefiting from a well-structured sensitization and awareness creation exercise, as well as a good number of reusable sanitary pads with a lifespan of up to five (5) years.

As part of the campaign, the organization will provide brochures and manuals for sensitization purposes.

It will also establish Girl Guides, an outreach platform that will ensure continuity of MHM conversations, periodically supply useful resource materials, and help address menstrual hygiene and its associated problems in targeted communities.

An Obuasi-based non-governmental organization, Self-love Foundation, has called for a legislation on menstruation to protect women from discrimination in the society.

According to the group, lack of bathing facilities and effective means of managing menstrual hygiene, has affected the girl child.

Menstruation-related teasing, exclusion and shame also undermine the principle of human dignity.

Speaking at a sensitization program, Hannah Sarpong, an official of the NGO said, “it is worrying to find out that some girls and women are barred from accessing certain facilities in some parts of the country when they menstruate. It also constitutes an infringement on their fundamental human rights”.

Self-love Foundation believes there is a clear need to continue campaigning to reduce taboos about menstruation.

Madam Hannah Sarpong revealed that, “to put to bed myths and taboos surrounding menstruation, there is the need for a shift in discussion targeted at having legislation on menstruation as part of human rights. Chiefs, religious leaders and Members of Parliament have to be involved in the subject matter to make things right”.

The theme for this year’s World Menstrual Hygiene Day is, “Making menstruation a normal fact of life by 2030”.

The President of the NGO, Hillary Ekuoba Gyasi said, “the organization has over the years been at the forefront of advocacy, which is essential in the quest to demystify issues about menstruation and make it a natural bodily process.

Our NGO believes that to make menstruation a normal fact of life, there is the need for a sustained education to ensure that people do not see menstruation as a taboo. We believe that continuous education will ensure that issues of menstruation are always openly discussed.”

The President of Self-love Foundation revealed that they decided to celebrate World Menstrual Hygiene Day with the people of Binsere in order to focus education on the rural areas.

To improve access to Sanitary pads, Miss Ekuoba Gyasi called on the government to reduce taxes on sanitary pads to make it affordable for the less privileged in the society.

She also called for the use of Menstrual caps which are affordable and last longer.

Madam Sally Osei-Tieku, a Midwife at the AGA Health Foundation said “parents have a role to play in educating their girls on safe menstruation. It is unfortunate most parents shirk their responsibilities by leaving the education on menstrual hygiene to only the teachers. As they say, charity begins at home so parents should teach their children how to observe menstrual hygiene.”

Officials of the NGO also presented sanitary pads to school girls and members of the Binsere community.

Director of Communications for the Melcom Group of Companies, Godwin Avenorgbo, has urged corporate organizations to join hands to support menstrual hygiene among girls.

He spoke when Melcom Care Foundation presented one hundred and sixty-four cartons of sanitary pads and eighty-five cartons of drinks to the ‘Touching the Lives of Girls Foundation International (TLGF)’ to reach out to the less privileged in Accra.

The gesture was in commemoration of the Menstrual Hygiene Day which is an annual awareness day celebrated on May 28, to highlight the importance of good menstrual hygiene management at a global level.

Mr. Avenorgbo gave an extensive explanation of how important the initiative is to the organisation.

According to him, “it is important for us because we need to invest in the people who help grow our wealth. Melcom is a brand that is visible, well distributed in all sixteen regions of Ghana and still expanding and extending services to support people who spend their money at Melcom shops, hence, our CSR initiatives. What is in it for us is aiding, and supporting people in need.”

He further explained how this affects the girl child. He said, “many of these girls skip school when it is time for their menstrual circle experiences and with this support, both boys and girls can go to school the same number of days so they can write the same exam”.

On her part, the Category Manager for Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited, Ruthy Agbozo, told JoyNews that as part of their customer appreciation, the company decided to support the project because “females are dear to our hearts.”

“We have gender diversity as part of the core things that we do as a business,” she added.

The Chief Executive Officer of Touching the Lives of Girls Foundation International, Nana Ama Adutwumwaa elaborated on the need for menstrual education. She said this would help the girl child to know about menstrual hygiene.

She mentioned that, “it is important because it is a basic need since every girl child would have to go through menstruation at a point in time, so it is important to educate the girl child before the menarche stage, so she will be able to do the right thing to avoid infections which will go untreated.”

Touching the Lives of Girls Foundation International, has however assured of their endless support for the girl child.

In Ghana, 9% of women and girls in their menstrual age do not use sanitary pads, and 35% do not have convenient space for changing at home and out of home due to poverty, social taboos, and the lack of policy drive.

As the world strives to achieve its Sustainable Development Goals in 2030, something as basic and natural as menstruation is still a topic shrouded with misconceptions, taboos, and stigma. While menstruation is biological and a way of life for many girls as they enter puberty, there is a disturbing number of girls around the world, to date, who do not have access to menstrual hygiene products. This inability of girls and women to access menstrual products including inadequate access to toilets, hygiene, and waste management is termed period poverty.

Period poverty is important yet often ignored and a public health crisis in many African countries including Ghana. A recent study indicated an estimated 200 million women and girls from developing countries struggle on a daily basis during their menstrual period to get access to not only menstrual products but also access to clean water for washing and convenient places to change their pads confidently and comfortably.

This gap and the limited adequate support in this area are largely due to stigma and beliefs associating menstruation with uncleanliness rather than recognizing menstruation as a biological, natural, and healthy way of life for women and girls.

Stigma also makes it uncomfortable for people to open up and talk about period poverty which prevents dialogues about access to menstrual products, including the option for a user and environmentally friendly products and the provision of facilities for menstruating girls to change their products. This stigma found expression in the uproar and superstitious reactions when a previous government in Ghana tried to expand access to menstrual hygiene products.

Access to affordable menstrual products is a right issue, not a privilege and menstruating girls feeling clean, confident, and capable during their period is a necessity. The lack of these services is a violation of human rights and has physical and psychological effects on menstruating girls. Girls who are unable to access menstrual hygiene products become vulnerable as they feel left without a choice and so are forced to use unhygienic materials such as rags to collect their menses. Some other girls risk transactional sex to raise money to buy hygienic products like sanitary pads.

Unhygienic products and space for changing products are drivers that heighten the risk for urogenital infections, such as urinary tract infections and bacterial vaginosis among girls. Unhygienic products are also associated with outcomes such as skin irritation, vaginal itching, and white or green discharge. All of these have serious implications in later life on women’s reproductive health. The daring girl who engages in sex becomes vulnerable to harmful physical (including early pregnancies and the risk of contracting STIs), and poor mental health outcomes further widening the already existing health challenges Ghana is battling.

The lack of convenient places for girls to comfortably change their menstrual products and the lack of sanitation facilities to appropriately dispose of used pads coupled with shame all point to indiscriminate disposal of menstrual waste products. Mention is made that millions of menstrual waste products end up in water bodies and landfills in Ghana.

A single pad is said to contain an abundance of plastics, which takes hundreds of years to decompose and as they slowly break down, their microplastics contaminate the soil and water bodies that are being consumed by households. This unfortunate situation further leads to a public health crisis in the country. However, as a matter of fact, the environmental effect of inappropriate menstrual waste disposal of sanitary pads is downplayed by governments.

To address period poverty in Ghana, there is the need for a multi-sectoral approach that will bring together the different stakeholders to dialogue on the way forward toward menstrual equity and environmental protection.

This can be done through awareness creation using social media to spread period positivity and the importance of menstrual waste management, host donation drives for girls in need of menstrual products on radios and televisions, and mobilization of coalition of advocates and the general public to push for a reduction or removal of taxes on menstrual hygiene products in Ghana.

We can also advocate for government and relevant stakeholders to support the provision of free sanitary pads in our schools and also support entrepreneurial innovativeness for local production of standard reusable sanitary pads as a long-term measure to ensuring period poverty equity.

An appeal should be made to the district assemblies and NGOs to allocate funds and invest more in sanitation facilities at schools and within the community for changing pads and proper disposal of used pads. There is also the need to educate boys and girls on menstruation to destigmatize perceptions, and beliefs about menstruation. The smallest ripples of these programs have the potential to cause huge changes in these areas and we can all work together to make this happen.

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Justina Agula is a member of the Health & Equity Pillar of the Centre for Social Justice, an Accra-based think tank. (jagulasenyo@outlook.com)

Days for Girls Ghana, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has reiterated the call for tax exemptions on menstrual hygiene products to make them affordable for girls.

Ms. Sandra Boakye, the Country Director of the NGO, said inadequate government commitment in supporting access to menstrual hygiene products had led to an increase in prices due to the 20 percent luxury tax.

This has made it difficult for adolescent girls, who do not have the means to buy them during menstruation, to practice healthy protocols.

Ms. Boakye said this at a capacity-building workshop her office organised for the media on menstrual health.

She said Menstrual Hygiene and Health Management was a key component of education for girls towards achieving academic excellence and career goals and needed the support of all.

“We at Days for Girls (DFG) are passionate about reaching every girl everywhere during their menstruation by providing sustainable menstrual products (DFG washable kit or reusable pads) and creating awareness on it through working with diverse stakeholders in schools and communities,” she said.

Ms. Boakye said, however, that essential materials for reusable pads were not easily accessible due to high importation cost for the flannel and the lack of standards for certification of reusable pads in Ghana.

That raised concerns about the safety and efficiency of the product, she said.

Data had shown that 21.3 percent of women and girls living in rural areas used cloths during their menstruation with about 4.2 percent doing the same in urban areas, she said.

Also, 35 percent of women and girls reported they did not have the resources to manage their menstruation hence the need for reusable pads.

Ms. Boakye said hygienic, durable and environmentally friendly locally produced pads had a three-year lifespan thus a good replacement for the regular disposable sanitary pads.

She said disposable pads were expensive in Ghana and that the ordinary schoolgirl, every month, must budget six cedis or more to buy pads for menstruation.

“But the reusable pad is very easy to use, less expensive, comfortable, and professionally designed,” she said.

She said the NGO had produced reusable pads in a rag-like form and nicely packaged and that all one needed to do was to wash and dry them in sunlight after use.

Ms. Boakye urged the media to raise awareness on issues concerning Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), Sexual and Reproductive Health, and menstrual hygiene management (MHM) to constantly keep those matters high on the public agenda.

The training was mainly on women’s health, MHM situation in Ghana and the sustainable interventions, and the role of the media in menstrual hygiene management.

Seventy per cent of adolescent school girls believe menstruation is a disease.

That is one of the findings from a research by the University of Education, Winneba.

The study sought to assess the knowledge and practices of menstrual hygiene among adolescent schools in the Mampong municipality of Ghana also found 53 per cent could not afford sanitary pads.

“The descriptive cross-sectional study was used to assess the knowledge and practices of menstrual hygiene among adolescent school girls with at least 4 months of menstrual experiences,” said lead investigator, Huda Abdallah Kusi of the College of Agriculture Education, Asante-Mampong, Faculty of Science and Environment Education

The 84 participants who were within the ages of 14 to 18 were interviewed face-to-face using questionnaires.

59 of them representing 70.2 per cent indicated menstruation is a disease.

Sociodemographic characteristics, economic factors, menstrual hygiene practices were captured.

Health and hygiene knowledge, culture and societal norms were also considered.

The research contained in the Ghana Science Association Webinar book of abstracts found 59 per cent of participants could pay their schools fees.

60 per cent of them had access to portable water and changed sanitary pad twice daily whiles 46 per cent could afford sanitary products.

It’s not therefore surprising, the researchers found 59 per cent showered twice daily.

The study which also involved Departments of Science Education and Environmental Health and Sanitation found 67 per cent of the students considered menstruation to be unhygienic

The researchers conclude: “Menstrual hygiene practices for adolescent school girls in Mampong municipality were largely influenced by socioeconomic capacities of their parents.

They recommend: “knowledge about menstrual hygiene practices among the girls were minimal hence the need for additional education and enlightenment.”