Wednesday, 28th May, 2025
Hon Korkor Laurette Asante
Atiwa West
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity.
Mr Speaker, I rise today to make a Statement in commemoration of the World Menstrual Hygiene Day, which is observed annually on May 28th, 2025. This important day is dedicated to breaking the silence, raising awareness and promoting action on the critical issue of menstrual hygiene management. This year marks a decade when the first menstrual hygiene day was initially observed in 2014. The initiative has grown globally into a movement, and the theme this year is; ‘‘Together for a period-friendly world’’. The emphasis on ‘‘together’’ is not merely symbolic.
It is a powerful call to shared responsibility and collective action. Mr Speaker, menstruation is a natural process; it is a biological process just like breathing. Yet millions of girls in Ghana and across the world continue to face stigma, shame and embarrassment and significant barriers in managing their monthly menstrual cycle with dignity.
Many girls miss school and sports, and social activities each month simply because they lack access to sanitary products, safe private changing facilities and clean water. In rural and low-income communities, these challenges are even more severe. Let us be unequivocal. Menstrual health is not a luxury. It is a human right aligned with the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 6) target number six. It is intricately linked to education, health and gender equality and economic empowerment. When we fail to ensure access to menstrual hygiene for all, we are not merely neglecting the needs of women and girls, we are compromising our national development.
Mr Speaker, on this occasion, I join voices around the world in urging this House to consider policy and budgetary interventions that will significantly improve menstrual health outcomes in Ghana. These include incorporating menstrual health education into school curricula to combat stigma and misinformation. There is a lot of myth and stigma. Some communities even consider the monthly cycle as taboo, so girls and women cannot participate in certain activities during that time. Ensuring the provision of gender friendly changing facilities in schools, workplaces, and public institutions is also critical.
Mr Speaker, it is disappointing that we continue to witness a lack of urgency and commitment in addressing the hygienic needs of our school girls and women. Despite numerous promises, we have seen very little on the provision of gender-friendly sanitation facilities essential for safe and dignified menstrual hygiene management. The President and the Government must be reminded that platitudes and symbolic gestures are not enough. Our girls need bold investment, real infrastructure and leadership that prioritises their dignity and well-being.
Mr Speaker, as part of efforts to mark this day, the Menstrual Hygiene Day, I had the honour on Monday, May 26th , to engage students in the two high schools in my constituency, Atiwa West. The schools were Abomosu STEM Senior High School and the Kwabeng Anglican Senior Technical High School, where we spoke to them on menstrual hygiene, the urgency and the importance of menstrual wellness and teenage pregnancy.
During these visits, I also distributed sanitary pads to the girls in the two schools for their well-being. The education was very important. The girls interacted, and I could tell that they were very interested; I could tell that education was really needed there, especially regarding teenage pregnancy.
Menstrual Hygiene Day reminds us that no woman or girl should be held back because of their monthly period. I, therefore, call on all Members of Parliament, relevant ministries, civil society organisations and the private sector to unite in building a Ghana where menstruation is no longer a barrier; it is no longer a shame; it is no longer an obstacle to dignity, education and full participation in society. Together, we can create a period-friendly Ghana.
I thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity.
Hon Zuwera Mohammed Ibrahimah
Salaga South
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to contribute to this commemorative Statement made by my Colleague, the MP for Atiwa West.
I think it is a very important Statement, especially coming on the heels of the recent launch of the free sanitary pads for girls by His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama, on 24th April, 2025.
Mr Speaker, we have read several Statements in this Chamber on this very important subject matter. His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama listened to our statement, he actualised our aspirations and actively acted on our demands and requests to support the girl child in order that the girl child can have free and safe menstrual hygiene.
Mr Speaker, I do not know how many of my Colleagues here were at the Salvation Army School at Mamprobi on 24th April. On that day, anyone who was there would agree with me that we came face to face with the emotions of motherhood. We came face to face with the emotions of the girl child with respect to their menstrual cycle. We watched a sketch enacted by the school children, and it told the whole story. We did not have to do this. The whole story about how the girl child navigates this natural sequence of their lives on a monthly basis was also told to us by their parents. We saw how the girl child on that day clamoured for the free sanitary pads that the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and the Ministry of Education had taken along in order for the launch to be successful.
Mr Speaker, we heard His Excellency the President, the Minister for Education, and the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection speak, but most importantly, we heard the girl child who told us that the singular initiative of the free sanitary pad was going to address a bigger problem than we thought we knew.
Mr Speaker, we left the launch happy, inspired to continue to do our work in advocating for more recognition for the girl child. One of the things we wondered about was what the distribution mechanism of the free sanitary pads would be for these various schools. Mr Speaker, I sat here this morning and got a message with a picture accompanying the message of the free sanitary pads being distributed in my beloved Salaga South constituency.
Mr Speaker, this is how pragmatic this Government takes this issue of the distribution of free sanitary pads. One month after the launch, the sanitary pads are out there in the schools for the young girls so that they can continue to go to school and reach their potential and life ambition.
Mr Speaker, we have nothing else to add, but to say a very big thank you to His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama for listening to the cries of the young people of this country. He has told us that his Government is going to be committed to ensuring that the girl child stays in school, and he has shown the first indication. We are grateful.
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity.
Hon Abdul-Khaliq Mohammed Sherif
Nanton
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I would also want to associate myself with the Statement made by the Hon Member for Atiwa West.
Mr Speaker, the MP for Salaga South has said it all. I was very surprised that in making the Statement, the maker could not make a bit of a reference to what this Government is doing to bring relief to the young women of Ghana. But apart from the pads, menstrual hygiene goes beyond just the provision of sanitary pads.
I think that at the level of our schools, we would have to look at how to make privacy possible for these young girls.
Because if they have the sanitary pad and they do not have a place where they can change it, then definitely they are going to have a problem. Apart from that, we must also look at the disposal of these products when they are done, because once the towel or the tampon is used, there should be a proper mechanism to dispose it off, since that will cause some public health hazards to the people around.
Mr Speaker, when we talk about menstrual health, all we think about is menstrual blood, but we are not even looking at the danger it poses to the female child in the future. If this hygiene is not done right, a lot of our girls would be exposed to a lot of infections like bacterial vaginosis, among others. And trust me, in the future, the commonest thing that people, especially the female child would come across in hospitals, is going to be infertility. The state and families spend a lot of money when it comes to the issue of infertility and providing for women who want to have children. So, what I am saying is, the issue of menstrual health is not just the provision of sanitary towels and tampons.
Firstly, we must look at the availability of privacy for these children to change in schools. Secondly, we must look at how we are going to dispose of these materials after they are used by the young girls.
Lastly, this Government— for me, as somebody who comes from a village, and relates with young women who miss school, this free sanitary towel project is the best ever social intervention we can do to bridge the gender inequality that we have.
Mr Speaker, thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Hon Isaac Boamah-Nyarko
Effia
Mr Speaker, let me take this opportunity to associate myself with the Statement that was made by our Sister from Atiwa West.
Mr Speaker, I think the issues have already been raised by her and those who have contributed, but I have just one or two comments to pass, particularly with regards to the Government's programme in providing sanitary pads for our ladies. First and foremost, we had the benefit of Government sharing those pads to the ladies or to our girls. Unfortunately, I do not know if it was just a sheer coincidence, but they were sharing it even to boys. Boys were even given pads on the day that the pads were being shared, and I was wondering the basis for that.
Mr Speaker, second, the issue has to do with how sustainable the plan of Government to make these pads available to our ladies would be. Here is the case we have supplied them only as a one-off thing. We know that the menstrual cycle for a woman is monthly, so when we provide it for them once, what is the intention to support them over the year? We look at the budget implications for these supplies, and we are asking whether the budgetary allocation for the purchase of these sanitary pads was made available to the Ministry to supply these pads for our ladies.
So, my call on the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection is to ensure that we do not just do politics for politics sake. This is a real need for our ladies. Also, it is not every lady that will require the sanitary pad. We have people who are really in need of these sanitary pads, and so it should be a well-thoughtthrough thing. Government should make sure that we make it available for those in need so that at the end of the day we can achieve the purpose for it.
Mr Speaker, to end it, I am concerned again as to this provision of sanitary washrooms for our children in the basic schools. My Colleague on the other Side talked about accessibility to dispose of used pads, but even water—
These are ladies and when they visit the washrooms, they need water to wash their hands and also to even do the other things that they do. So, my request is for Government to ensure that we make access to water available for our schools. Government has indicated that electricity is available for our schools, but we should go beyond electricity and make sure that we get water also for them. Then at the end of the day we can improve— On that note, I think I will congratulate the maker of the Statement for making this.
Thank you very much.
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