UNICEF reiterates calls to intensify advocacy on menstrual hygiene management

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has reiterated the call for stakeholders to intensify advocacy on Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) to enable young women and girls to reach their full potential.

Madam Anne-Claire Dufay, UNICEF Country Representative in Ghana, said it was important to provide girls with information about menstruation, as some parents’ shy away from the topic and adolescent girls often struggle to obtain the necessary information needed.

She said it was important to educate the adolescent girl on what to expect during menstruation, in that regard, it was encouraging that the Ghana Education Service (GES) had already integrated the topic in the school curricular.

Madam Dufay said this in her remarks during the Commemoration of Menstrual Hygiene Day 2019 in Accra.

The event, which was organised by the GES and its partners, was on the theme: “It’s Time for Action”, with a focus on action on MHM education.

This year’s commemoration raised awareness on the importance of MHM, advocating for an enabling environment for women and girls, and strengthening stakeholder commitment to MHM interventions.

Menstruation is a basic biological process for girls and women, yet many girls and women in the country face challenges with managing menstruation, largely due to taboos and restrictions, including the availability and affordability of menstrual hygiene products and systems for safe disposal.

Madam Dufay noted that if parents did not share the information at home at least adolescent girls had an opportunity to acquire that knowledge at school and could go back home and share with their siblings and families.

She also underscored the need for gender and disability friendly toilets with changing rooms to provide security and privacy for girls during menstruation; adding that, "UNICEF is working with its partners to draw guidelines and also encourage schools to have such facilities”.

Madam Dufay said menstruation in itself should not be seen as an issue; the real issues were related to bottlenecks in societies around the world, including lack of sanitation facilities in schools, limited knowledge, people’s perceptions, behaviours, cultural barriers or social norms. She said women and girls had the right to live with dignity, and this includes the right to gender equality, access to water, sanitation, health, education and life skills.

“This year, as the world celebrates the 30th Anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, we need to promote the rights of all children including adolescent girls, and girls with special needs”, she added. For girls in Ghanaian schools, between the ages of nine and fourteen, experiencing menstruation for the first time can be a terrifying experience. Research conducted in basic schools, by the GES, revealed that one of the first challenges which adolescent girls face is the lack of essential information on managing menstruation before their first period.

Whilst the school curricular covers the biological aspects of menstruation, it provides limited knowledge and skills on MHM.

Two out of five Ghanaian public schools do not have toilets with the investments in water and sanitation infrastructure being largely limited. Inadequate facilities affect girls’ experience in school and the ability to confidently manage menstruation.

The GES is leading this commemoration, with the active involvement of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health/ Ghana Health Service, Ministry of Sanitation and Water Resources, and other partners including UNICEF and the Korea International Cooperation Agency.