Menstrual Hygiene Day 2019


Teen Africa and CLICE foundation decided to join the constellation of organisations globally to raise awareness on the impact of menstruation on women and girls, share information with women, girls, boys and men on menstrual hygiene management because “Menstruation Matters to Everyone” and also advocate for policy makers and other stakeholders in Enugu and in Nigeria to provide access to water especially in rural communities and menstrual hygiene materials for women and girls because menstruation is not by choice, but a part of women and girls.

Women and girls encounter difficulties in managing hygiene during menstruation when there is not an enabling environment to do so. Notably when they have difficulty in accessing water, sanitation and/or healthcare, it can negatively impact the extent to which they enjoy certain rights including those to education, work and health.

Lack of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities can prevent students from attending school, impose a burden on women, and diminish productivity. Worldwide, at least 500 million women and girls lack adequate, safe, and private facilities for managing menstrual hygiene. Teen Africa commemorated the event which held at Roban Hotels, Enugu saw the participation of representative of government functionaries, traditional rulers, representatives of International organizations, school heads, heads of civil society organizations, youth groups and students.

At the end of the event, participants came up with a communiqué as follows:

  1. That there should be adequate, affordable menstrual materials to collect menstrual blood and proper healthcare facilities to take care of period pain.
  2.  Adequate facilities for changing menstrual materials should be provided in homes, schools, churches and other public place. 
  3. Information on hygienic menstruation should be easily accessible to the girl-child to enable her make proper choices on issues relating to her menstruation cycles.
  4. Women should be more open on issues of menstruation to enable the men know when/how to assist them during such periods.
  5. The families and the churches should stop shrouding menstruation as a mystery. There should be open and frank discussions about menstruation within the religious and home-fronts.
  6. The traditional myths attached to menstruation should be dispelled by the traditional, educational and religious institutions.
  7. There must be practical engagement with school teachers, proprietors, church leaders and government officials on providing infrastructures for hygienic menstruation, education for    the girl-child and subsidizing menstruation materials.
  8. The traditional institutions should step up their efforts towards educating their subjects on safe and hygienic menstruation. 

At the end, the communiqué was adopted by Rev. Ikechukwu Nwatu Aniabor and seconded by Comrade Adaeze Obieze participants

 

 

 The Teenage Development for Africa (Teen Africa) is a pan African not-for-profit, gender based, education youth development organization.

Newsletter

You can subscribe to our newsletter to get up to date with our events.