As part of this year’s Menstrual Hygiene Day, staff of Newmont Ahafo South operations and the Ahafo North project have been distributing free sanitary pads to female pupils of all basic schools in the company’s ten host communities and their surrounding towns.
Newmont Ahafo Development Foundation (NADeF), Newmont’s main driver of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, is funding the exercise.
Staff of Newmont together with staff of some contractors working with the company have divided themselves into various groups and are visiting basic schools in Kenyasi Number One, Kenyasi Number Two, Ntotroso, Gyedu and Wamahinso in the Asutifi North District as well as Yamfo, Susuanso, Afrisipakrom, Terchire and Adrobaa in the Tano North Municipality to distribute the pads and also engage the pupils on the proper use of the pads.
In each of the basic schools visited so far, the staff also used the occasion to educate the pupils about menstrual hygiene.
According to the Executive Secretary of NADeF, Elizabeth Opoku-Darko, the exercise is expected to benefit all girls in public schools within the company’s catchment area.
Retention of girls
She said the is to promote the retention of girls in school and ensure that no girl stays out of school because of menstruation.
At Yamfo, the staff visited schools such as the Roman Catholic Basic School, the Methodist Basic School, the Presbyterian Basic School and the Islamic Basic School, among several others.
Menstrual Hygiene Day is an annual awareness day on May 28 to highlight the importance of good menstrual hygiene management at a global level. It was initiated by the German-based NGO WASH United in 2013 and observed for the first time in 2014.
This year’s theme is “Together for a period-friendly world.”
Credit: rbnewshub.com
