The Oforikrom Education Directorate in Ashanti region is advocating for the procurement and installation of sanitary pad dispensers for basic schools across the country.
The Girl Child Officer, Dorothy Oye Dabrah, observes a lot of teenage girls tend to absent themselves from school during their menstrual periods, due to the challenge of easily accessing sanitary pads.
Her advocacy is coming on the back of an initiative in the Oforikrom municipality to install pad dispensers for basic schools in the area.
Ms Oye Dabrah believes the project will help reduce absenteeism in schools and aid the convenient education of girls.
“We can ensure that girls have a readily available, reliable and affordable source of menstrual products. This will help reduce absenteeism due to menstruation, improve girls’ academic performance, and promote their overall well-being,” she said.
Ms. Oye Dabrah was speaking at the UNESCO International Day of the Girl Child organised by the Oforikrom Education Directorate in collaboration with Education 360 at Oforikrom in the Ashanti Region.
She called on parents, philanthropists and other entities to have the girl child at heart and help them in shaping their life for a better future.
According to her, it is important to help the ‘girl child’ in various communities by providing the needed resources that hinder them from attaining their goals.
Guest speaker at the event, Dr. Beatrice Akyinah, called on the government to subsidize the price of sanitary pads.
“If the government is able to do that, it will go a long way to ensure that the ‘girl child’ is safe and wouldn’t shy away from things she does,” she said.
The event was to celebrate girls and empower them in their pursuit for a greater and better future.
The theme for this year’s Girl Child Day focused on “Girl’s Vision for the Future”. It brought together successful women in various careers to mentor the girls to achieve their goals in life.
Dr. Akyinah also advised women to forgo the notion of rightly deserving a position in life merely because of their gender. She encouraged women and girls to rather work assiduously to achieve goals as equally as the opposite sex.
“It is high time for women to recognize their inherent potential and make meaningful contributions to their lives,” she said.