Report by Gerald C. [email protected]
Monrovia – On Monday, May 28, the Community HealthCare Initiative (CHI) in collaboration with Action Aid Liberia collaborated with several high schools in Paynesville city to celebrate International menstrual Day.
Menstrual Hygiene Day is also known as MHD, MH Day, or Menstrual Health Day is an annual awareness day observed on May 28 every year to highlight the importance of good menstrual hygiene management (MHM).
Speaking during the event which was held at the Calvary Chapel School in Paynesville, the Executive Director of CHI, Naomi Tulay Solanke said research has found that not having access to menstrual hygiene management products can keep girls home from school during their period each month.
Madam Solanke noted that adequate sanitation facilities and access to menstrual hygiene products are one part of the solution while creating a culture that welcomes discussion and makes adequate education for girls is of equal importance.
She noted that in most homes and rural communities, choices of menstrual hygiene materials are often limited by the costs, availability and social norms and called on the Government of Liberia to drop the tariff on all sanitary materials to afford every girl have access to a sanitary pad.
“We are calling on the National Government to take all the taxes on a sanitary pad. I have been in communities where girls have not seen disposable pad because it is too expensive and if somebody cannot even afford to eat, they cannot spend their money on the menstrual pad,” she noted.
She noted that because most girls do not have access to a sanitary pad, her team has invented a reusable pad and are planning a mass production to allow girls have access.
The event brought together over 200 girls from five high schools in Paynesville including the Kendaja School, Calvary Chapel School, and Carver Mission Academy.
Menstrual Hygiene Day creates an occasion for publicizing information in the media including social media. Public information campaigns are initiated to engage decision-makers in policy dialogue.
The day offers an opportunity to actively advocate for the integration of menstrual hygiene management (MHM) into global, national and local policies and programs.
It was initiated by the German-based NGO WASH United in 2014 and aims to benefit women and girls worldwide. The 28th was selected to acknowledge that 28 days is the average length of the menstrual cycle.