To mark the celebration of Menstrual Hygiene Day2022, Renel Ghana Foundation in collaboration with Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) , Scale Up Future, GreaterAccra Regional Youth Network and Girls Not Brides have distributed sanitary pads to some female students of Gorm D/A School at Ada-East District.
As part of the program, health personnel present educated the students, on what menstruation is, what to do when menstruating, personal hygiene tips during menstruation, and further demonstrated to them the different types of sanitary towels and how to put them on.
The health personnel also encouraged the males to support and encourage the girls when they are in their periods and not stigmatize them.
Mr Nelson Richardson-Mandela who spoke on behalf of all partners called on Government to end the longstanding fiscal violence perpetrated by taxes on menstruation against adolescent girls and women in Ghana.
The Government of Ghana presently charges a luxury tax of 20% and an additional 12.5% VAT on menstrual 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 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." he added.
"A cost of Sanitary pad today equals 1Litre of fuel in Ghana today. The taxes on menstrual pads have made the product very expensive and inaccessible to many low-income households who must choose between the pads and competing needs. Resulting in many young girls from such households choosing unhygienic and unsafe methods to maintain themselves during their monthly menstruation periods"
"The stains or smell from these methods means the affected girls self-isolate from peers until their menstruation periods end. This leads to loss of valuable contact hours in classrooms and dropping out from schools in some cases for girls, while further pushing females into poverty and strengthening the longstanding association of the female face with poverty. Ghana can and should follow the example of Kenya which cancelled taxes on menstrual pads as far back as 2004 and which has since been budgeting about 3M USD per year to distribute free sanitary pads in low-income communities. Since then, Rwanda and South Africa have also cancelled menstrual taxes."
Administrative and Finance Officer, GNECC, Ivy Odurah Denkyira called on government and other stakeholders to support schools with hygiene facilities most especially toilets and changing rooms for girls.
She also thanked all our donors and the district for a successful program.
Below are some pictures:
Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith
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