Over 200 secondary schools in Ekiti have been targeted by a Non Governmental Organization, FEBI Development Initiative, to benefit from free distribution of sanitary pads to keep them in school.
The Executive Director of FEBI Development Initiative, Abimbola Ajaja, said this was spur out of her passion for girls education, adding that majority of school girls shun school during their monthly period.
This was made known during an official launch of FEBI Development Initiative’s Ekiti Office Building by an Ekiti State High Court Judge, Hon. Justice Blessing Ajileye, on Tuesday in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.
According to her, the objectives include having a steady supply of menstrual hygiene products, helping young girls who are unable to afford sanitary materials and ensure that young girls do not stay away from school because of their monthly cycle.
Others include: promoting good menstrual hygiene amongst young girls, providing training on the use of menstrual hygiene products and providing opportunities for young local entrepreneurs to learn how to produce reusable and safe sanitary products.
She solicited for support from well meaning Nigerians and other NGOs who champion the cause of girl-child in the society to make her dream of ending period poverty come into reality.
In her keynote address, Justice Ajileye said period poverty may result in absenteeism, reduced level of concentration in class and low participation in school activities like sports and other extracurricular activities.
She stressed that the initiative would help vulnerable girls in the state have access to disposable and reusable sanitary pads, and a sustainable way of menstrual hygiene management.
The legal luminary equally established that period poverty needs proper attention because it had been neglected and ignored for too long which had in turn cut off the rights of every woman.
She therefore maintained that this initiative aligns with what the law states about human rights because menstrual poverty has affected some women to exercise their right to education.
The Judge admonished every attendee and citizen of Nigeria to support the cause by making it easy for the organisation to actualise their purpose.
The Vice Chairperson of the International Federation of Women Lawyers, Dr Banke Olagbegi-Oloba, lauded the initiative, promising that the association would support and partner with the initiative to ensure that period poverty is reduced to it barest minimum in the state.
The event had in attendance other Non Governmental Organisations, such as Triple G, Gender Relevance Initiative Promotion (GRIP) Gender Mobile, former Vice Chairperson, FIDA, Mag. Titilayo Ogunsina, amongst others, who equally pledged their support for partnership.