One Whole Future Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, has launched a comprehensive campaign aimed at equipping and supporting adolescent girls in rural areas of the country with sanitary pads, as well as educating them on menstrual hygiene.

The campaign, dubbed: “Period Matters, Pad a Girl”, was launched on Friday, May 27, 2022, as part of the organisation’s efforts at eliminating menstrual health management (MHM) illiteracy among 15,000 Ghanaian girls.

Globally, it is estimated that 500 million young girls who menstruate, lack access to menstrual products and hygiene facilities. 

The story is not different in Ghana.

Girls in most rural communities cannot afford sanitary towels and, as a result, are unable to go to school, work or participate in daily life activities.

A statement issued and signed by the Executive Director of 1WF, Ms Akosua Manu, said the ‘Period Matters, Pad a Girl’ campaign is meant to reduce by, at least 50 per cent, menstruation-related school absenteeism in targeted communities in Ghana in line with the organisation’s vision of creating a world where no woman or girl is kept from realising her full potential because of her period.

The campaign will be piloted in target areas like Upper Denkyira East in the Central Region, with targeted schools benefiting from a well-structured sensitisation and awareness creation exercise, as well as a good number of reusable sanitary pads, with a lifespan of up to five years.

As part of the campaign, the organisation will provide brochures and manuals for sensitisation purposes.

It will also establish Girl Guides, an outreach platform that will ensure continuity of MHM conversations; periodically supply useful resource materials, and help address menstrual hygiene and its associated problems in targeted communities.