The Global Menstrual Hygiene Day was observed on May 26 and 27, 2022, at Ntotroso and Wamahinso, respectively, by the Ghana Education Service, Asutifi North Directorate, Nananom of the Ntotroso and Wamahinso Traditional Council, and Makers Network Foundation. This is a component of the yearly awareness campaign on May 28 to increase public understanding of the need of managing menstrual hygiene appropriately. This campaign was initiated in 2013 by the German NGO WASH United and was first observed in 2014.
Dignitaries from the District and beyond attended the event. The district police commander, Reg. GNATLAS (Sunyani), the director of the Ghana Education Service, the assistant director of the Asutifi North District Assembly, Nananom (Traditional Authorities), the executive director of the Makers Network Foundation, representatives from IRC Ghana, the chief marketing officer of Premier Health Insurance, and Newmont Ghana Gold Limited are a few of these.
Girls in these areas’ junior high schools were the focus of the celebration. By teaching these girls about how to maintain their hygiene and the general public, especially parents, about their role in the lives of their wards during menstruation periods, it aimed to modify unfavourable social beliefs and conventions. It also urged girls who hadn’t yet experienced their first period to let their parents know when they did so that they might receive advice.
Felicia Ohenewaa Larbi, the District’s Coordinator for the School Health Education Program (SHEP), said that according to GES records, “some girls do not at all receive guidance during their menstruation period and this leaves them with no choice but to fall upon peer influence, engage in wrong social vices, and eventually, drop off school.”