ACTIVE VOICES COMMEMORATES 2019 MENSTRUAL HYGIENE DAY WITH VISIT TO 4 SCHOOLS AND 2 COMMUNITIES IN ABUJA
To mark the 2019 Menstrual Hygiene Day (MHD), Active Voices for Sustainable Development Initiative (Active Voices) in partnership with Strong Enough Girls Empowerment Initiative (SEGEI) held a week-long program on menstruation in four (4) selected Junior Secondary Schools in the Federal Capital Territory with support from UNFPA and UNESCO Regional Office in Abuja.
The schools visited includes Junior Secondary School Wuse Zone 6, Junior Secondary School Kpeyigi, Junior Secondary School Kabusa and Junior Secondary School, Gwagwalape.
The Menstrual Hygiene Day which is celebrated on the 28th of May annually, is a day set aside to highlight the importance of good menstrual hygiene management especially among teenage girls. Addressing female students of the schools visited, staff of Active Voices discussed menstrual hygiene management, debunked menstrual myths and misconceptions held by students and encouraged them to practice good hygiene beyond menstrual hygiene.
Leading up the menstrual hygiene day, Active Voices and SEGEI organised an art (poem and paintings) competition with the themes, “Breaking Stigma Around Menstruation
and My First Period: Challenges & Opportunities” for both male and female students in the afore mentioned schools. First, second and third winners of the competition received three, two and one year supplies of menstrual pads respectively.