Network for Young Women Empowerment (NYWE) has engaged adolescent girls on menstrual and related adolescent health hygiene at Funsi in the Wa East District over the weekend.
The engagement was a partnership between the NYWE and Girls Flow Free, a UK-based Non-Governmental Organization, working diligently to positively change menstrual experiences for girls.
It came as a follow-up intervention to a research conducted by the Upper West Regional Youth Parliament in the district which revealed that about 83% of adolescent girls engage in sexual affairs to secure sanitary goods.
Sanitary kits including reusable pads and cakes of soap were donated to the girls.
Speaking at the engagement on Saturday, June 11, 2022, Miss Ida Nakaar, chairperson for the NYWE, said the outreach has come as an interventional measure following the research findings of the predicaments of the adolescent girl children in the Wa East District.
She noted that the research findings have blown an alarm to Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (ASRHR) actors both within and outside the shores of the country, following which the Girls Flow Free is offering support.
She intimated that the aim of Girls Flow Free and NYWE was to reduce to the modicum the rate at which teenagers become pregnant as a result of their engagement in sexual escapades to procure sanitary goods.
The adolescent girls were taken through menstrual hygiene and related healthy life practices during the period of menstruation.
They were exposed to different kinds of sanitary wear and goods that could be used during the period including disposable and reusable pads, tampons, and menstrual cups among others.
The NYWE chairperson advocated the use of reusable pads in the face of rising prices of disposable pads, emphasizing their proper and hygienic use in washing, drying, and ironing.
She said good menstrual hygiene was necessary to prevent the contraction of infections, and urinary tract diseases including cervical cancer, and to also avoid bodily odours and public stigmatization.
The girls were also urged to keep track of their cycle of menstrual flow in order to avoid “surprises” and public attention by keeping period tracking books and calendars.
Mr. Aminu Ibrahim who was speaking on behalf of the Speaker of the Upper West Regional Youth Parliament, Mr. James Baba Anabiga, thanked the NYWE and Girls Flow Free for the swift intervention in response to the nerve-wracking findings of the research that was painstakingly conducted in the District.
He urged the adolescent girls to put the sensitization they received into good practice and to be guided by the hope that their education should not be truncated or delayed by reason of teenage pregnancy.
He played the advocate of Oliver Twist by asking for more intervention by the Government, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and all stakeholders to help address the challenges of menstrual and adolescent reproductive health in the Wa East District.
Mr. Philip Bamuoni, the Assistant Internal Auditor, on behalf of the Wa East District Assembly, expressed appreciation to the NYWE, Girls Flow Free, and the Youth Parliament for the research and the intervention.
He said the District Assembly was doing its best in the area of ASRH but called for the support of parents and other organizations to complement its efforts.
The beneficiary girls expressed their gratitude to the Network for Young Women Empowerment and partners for the education and donation.
They promised to heed the pieces of advice and to make the organizations proud of their intervention.