The Development Bank of Ghana is committed to the distribution of over 10,000 sanitary pads to public school girls across the country to reduce period poverty, stigmatization, and school absenteeism.
Out of the number, about 8,000 sanitary pads have been distributed to some Junior and Senior High Schools in Bolgatanga and Tamale of the Upper East and Northern Regions, respectively.
The gesture that formed part of the Corporate Social Responsibility of DBG in conformity with the Menstrual Hygiene awareness campaign, is also to complement the government’s national Free Sanitary Pads Policy aimed at distributing sanitary pads to school girls across the country.
Some beneficiary schools included Bolgatanga Senior High School (SHS), and St Mary’s Junior High School (JHS) in the Upper East Region, Ghana SHS (Ghanasco) and Business SHS (Bisco) in the Northern Region, and Tepa SHS in the Ashanti Region.
Aside from the pads, the girls were educated on the importance of menstrual hygiene and its best hygiene practices.
Presenting the items, the Head of Corporate Responsibility at DBG, Barbara Anawonu Wricketts, said the organisation was committed to empowering young girls to have confidence in themselves and be able to focus on their academic work to achieve their goals.
It is also to enable them to have a basic understanding that menstruation is a natural phase in a woman’s life, and therefore, they should not feel shy but rather endeavour to keep themselves neat during the period.
“We, at DBG, believe that access to information and resources should not be limited by location and so decided to empower the schools to sensitize the girls, sensitize them, and distribute some sanitary towels as part of our corporate social responsibility”, she said.
We kick-started this campaign in Bolgatanga and hope to get to more schools to share the pads and empower them
At DBG, WE offer medium- to long-term loans to businesses, infrastructure, SMEs, textiles/garments, and economic projects through Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs)
Josephine Amobire from Tolon District Hospital encouraged the young girls to be circumspect of the period of menstruation in order not to attribute it to anything but seek medical care when necessary.
The Headmaster of Ghanasco, Mr. Douglas Yakubu Haruna, expressed gratitude to the management of DBG for supporting the girls with sanitary pads, saying, “A lot of these girls come to school without these sanitary pads, and they suffer a lot”.
“Sometimes, out of frustration, they are not able to go to class for fear of stigma. When people also see the stains behind them, they become very uncomfortable, but with what has happened this morning, I believe that it is going to empower them, give them that courage to be in class and to work very freely”, he stressed.
It will also have an impact on their studies because coming to class with that confidence that they are well prepared and whatever happens, they will not have stains behind them, they are good to go, and will be very comfortable, he added.
He also appealed to the government and other corporate organisations to emulate the gesture of DBG to support the girls to sustain the initiative, and empower more girls for a better tomorrow.
A beneficiary and General Prefect, Santuah Wemawome Genevieve, also expressed gratitude to DBG for the support, saying “the education has had a great impact on them and the pads to ease the stress in accessing them during the period”.
Source: zaaghana.com
