Hope Alive For Possibilities Initiative (HAPI) in collaboration with Rubies Development Foundation, Women And Girls With Albinism Network, Prime Diamond Initiative For Community Health (PDICH) and Voice For Women And Youth Initiative on Tuesday, 30th May, 2023 organized a sensitization program for students of School For The Blind, Jabi, FCT, Abuja on Menstrual Hygiene Management in commemoration of 2023 World Menstruation Day with the theme: empowering a girl child.
Aver Akighir, The Executive Director, HAPI while speaking to TQM said that Menstruation is a natural fact of life and a monthly occurrence for over 1.8 billion girls and women of reproductive age.
She lamented that inspite of the importance of menstrual hygiene management, millions of women within menstrual age across the world are denied the right to manage their menstrual cycle in a dignified healthy way.
“Girls and women with disabilities fave even greater challenges in managing menstrual hygienically and with dignity”.
She called for support from caregivers, parents and general public to be more mindful of menstrual care of girls and women with disabilities to avoid menstrual related complications.
“This includes sharing menstrual hygiene information in format accessible for all forms of disability, and also in distribution of sanitary pads, they should be prioritized”.
In the spirit of leaving no one behind and nothing about us without us, women and girls with disabilities should be involved in their menstrual hygiene management and all sexual and reproductive health programs.
The group also distributed free sanitary pads to the female students.