As a tribute to mark this year’s Internatinal Day of the Girl Child Mrs. Nonye Soludo the first lady of Anambra state has launched a Pad Bank in Anambra schools to foster menstrual health.
The event took place at the Governor’s Lodge in Awka, on Wednesday, was attended by female pupils from different schools across the state alongside their teachers and other staffs.
Under the aegis of the “Healthy Living with Nonye Soludo initiative,” it included talks on the sexuality and rights of girls as well as life skills training, ingenious career and digital skills, and theater performance.
Speaking during the event, Soludo noted that celebrating this year’s International Day of the Girl Child was a comprehension of the hurdles before girls in their pursuit of a safe and great future.
“The fundamental right to life and success belongs to every girl.
The moment we deny children these rights, we are regressing and will eventually cause harm to our community.
“One of the main objectives of our campaign, ‘Healthy living with Nonye Soludo,’ is to look for wise paths and revive the awareness of self-worth and understanding of our girls’ unique potential.
“We are also teaching them the rules of hygiene, nutrition and self-development. Nutrition and personal hygiene are, of course, two of the five pillars of our crusade. We see them as an important process for child development. In the area of hygiene, we are also looking at menstrual hygiene and the overall health education of women and girls, especially those in the low earning class.”
The governor’s wife also pointed highlighted that, “Healthy Living with Nonye Soludo’ has taken a step further to promote menstrual hygiene in Secondary Schools where Healthy Living Club is domiciled, adding that arrangements have been concluded to provide sanitary pad banks in over 400 secondary schools across Anambra State where their clubs are currently operating.
She disclosed that the statistics of girls and women in their reproductive age bracket with access to basic menstrual requirements are begging for better attention, stressing that the distribution of sanitary pads is a way of paying attention to that.
She assured of an adequate commitment to promoting and protecting the fundamental objectives of right health, stating that they want to achieve a society that opens up a platform of equal aspiration for every gender.
“Accessibility to primary hygiene needs like sanitary Pad Banks remains a major concern in rural homes. It gets even worse when menstrual emergencies break out in schools.
Therefore, we want to intervene where it matters the most.
“Today, we will be distributing thousands of sanitary pads to our schools to kick off the campaign.
Subsequent distributions will be done at the beginning of each academic term, with enough supplies to last throughout a particular academic calendar.”
“Take your education seriously, no matter any distraction. Whatever you want to achieve lies in your hands. Success is 95% achieved through hard work. You must work hard.
It is through education you can aspire to any level and it will bring you out of the shackles of poverty. Therefore, empower yourself”, She summated.
