Special needs students at the 2024 menstrual hygiene day.
Collins Chetuni, Lafia
To mark the 2024 International Menstrual Hygiene Day, the Nasarawa State Menstrual Hygiene Management Project in collaboration with the Nasarawa State Human Capital Development Agency, has distributed sanitary pads to female students of the Government Special School, Lafia.
Speaking at the maiden celebration in Lafia on Tuesday, the Focal Person of the State’s Menstrual Hygiene Management Project, Patience Ayaka, said the Day which has the theme, “Together for Period-Friendly-World”, signified a critical step to advocate for better lives for all girls and women in the state.
She explained that the aim of the project was to address the menstrual challenges confronting females in the state by promoting menstrual hygiene as a vital aspect of reproductive health.
She said, “We believe that every girl and woman deserves the right to manage their mensuration with dignity, and our goal is to create a world where mensuration is no longer a source of shame or fear.
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“That is why we have come to this Special School today because we have interest in the vulnerable girls with disabilities who are faced with huge challenges because of their peculiarity.”
While commending the State’s Human Capital Development Agency for partnering the project to ensure its success, Ayaka urged all well-to-do residents of the state to join forces together in order address the mensuration challenges confronting the less-privileged females in the state.
“Today, we witness the lighting of a historical torch that will ensure that women and girls have sufficient support during mensuration in schools, homes, workplaces, prisons and hospitals.
“I, therefore, call on all of us to come together to break the silence and stigma surrounding mensuration. Let us work towards creating a world where every girl and woman can be free from the constraints of menstrual shame and fear,” Ayaka added.
On her part, the Director General and Focal Person of the Nasarawa State Human Capital Development Agency, Habiba Balarabe-Suleiman, lamented that a significant number of girls in the state are most times absent from school during their menstrual periods due to lack of access to sanitary products, proper facilities, and the pervasive stigma that surrounds menstruation.
She, therefore, proposed a multifaceted approach to address menstrual hygiene in the state which include Education and awareness; Access to menstrual products; Improved infrastructure and facilities; Psychosocial support; and Policy advocacy and support.
“Menstrual hygiene is not just a health issue; it is a matter of dignity, equality, and human rights. By working together to break the silence and stigma surrounding menstruation, we can create a more inclusive and supportive environment for women and girls in Nasarawa State,” Habiba Balarabe-Suleiman added.
Our correspondent reports that dignitaries including the Chairman of the State’s Disability Rights Commission, Sale Barde; Head of Civil Service, Abigail Waya; General Manager of the State’s Water Board, Ahmed Kana; the State’s Menstrual Hygiene Management Project pad ambassador, Tabitha Abimiku, among others graced the occasion.
