The organization is however calling on concerned individuals and agencies to join forces in the promotion of good menstrual hygiene to ensure that girls stay and feel comfortable any time they are menstruating.
A Community Mobilisation Specialist at CRS, Charles Obeng Appiah, who made the appeal further underscored the urgency for schools and other institutions to prioritize education on menstrual hygiene and integrate it into the educational curricular.
He also advocated for increased access to hygiene products such as water, toilets and other disposal facilities.
Mr. Obeng Appiah was addressing a mini durbar to commemorate Menstrual Hygiene Day at Nakolo in the Kassena-Nankana West District of the Upper East Region.
Radio Ghana's Isaac Asare reports that women and adolescent girls once in a calendar month experience menstruation, which involves the flow of blood and cellular debris from the uterus that begins at puberty.
In most societies, the natural process is surrounded by stigma and misinformation.
A report by UNESCO indicates that a high number of girls absent themselves from school during menstruation because they suffer undue humiliation in the hands of their male folks.
Interestingly, most teenage girls during this period indulge in unsafe menstrual practices due to ignorance and misconceptions.
They use pieces of cloth and other unhygienic materials as absorbents instead of sanitary pads and this often result in vaginal tract infections.
Meanwhile, the celebration of the Menstrual Hygiene Day initiated by WASH in 2014, reinforce the need to encourage safe and hygienic practices among adolescent girls.
The idea is to enforce behavioral change with spotlight on stigma and education on how best adolescents can manage menstruation and break free from all outmoded belief and practices.
In commemoration of this year’s Menstrual Day celebration, a Community Mobilization Specialist at CRS, Charles Obeng Appiah said it is about time education on menstrual hygiene be heightened so that women and girls will be confident and empowered to make informed decisions about how they can manage their menstruation.
He proposed other interventions geared at reducing the stigma associated with menstruation.
Over the past three years, the CRS with financial support from Helmsley Charitable Trust had injected a whopping 4.3 million dollar grant into the health sector with the aim to improving the well-being of over 122,000 school children and targeted individuals from six districts in the Northern and Upper East Regions.
They include East and West Mamprusi in the Northern Region as well as Talensi, Nabdam and Kassena-Nankana West in the Upper East Region.
Speaking to Radio Ghana, Mr. Obeng Appiah said CRS consider women and girls as change agents and to that effect tailor-made its activities to benefit girls in deprived communities as they are exposed to numerous health challenges that affects their self-esteem and socio-economic well-being including education.
Apart from the hygiene promotion using behavioural change communication materials, CRS through a project nicknamed I-SHINE had facilitated the construction and rehabilitation of 142 gender and disability friendly latrines in 138 schools.
The intervention is ensure that girls feel comfortable using the facility and stay in school whiles they are menstruating.
According to Mr. Obeng Appiah, CRS is committed to advancing the cause of women through the provision of clean and gender sanitation friendly facilities.
This year’s Menstrual Hygiene Day celebration held at Nakolo was on the global theme: "Education about Menstruation Changes Everything".
The event was marked with a keenly contested quiz competition on menstruation hygiene management.
Competing schools were T.I Ahmadiyya primary, English and Arabic Primary, Kajelo Primary, Nakolo Primary and Kuliya JHS.
After four rounds of competition, Kajelo primary school carried the day with 29 points followed by Kuliya JHS.
English and Arabic Primary occupied the third position. Pupil of Kajelo primary staged a drama to raise public awareness on menstrual hygiene to spice up the event.
On behalf of the drama group, a 13 year old pupil of Kajelo, Esther Apasiko thanked CRS for their sense of responsiveness.
She further implored parents to be equally responsive to the needs of their wards, particularly the girl child to enable them stay in school.
GBC
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