Abuja, 08 March, 2024 / 11:20 am (ACI Africa).
The Catholic Youth Organization of Nigeria (CYON) in the Archdiocese of Abuja is providing basic hygiene products to vulnerable girls in an initiative the Catholic entity has dubbed “Pad a Girl Child”.
Speaking to ACI Africa Wednesday, March 6 on the sidelines of the launch of the initiative, Ms Imotsu Valeria Kateoyemen, an official at CYON, said the initiative was launched in the spirit of the Lenten season, a time she said is marked by acts of compassion and generosity especially to the less privileged in society.
“We conceived the ‘Pad a Girl Child’ initiative because we discovered that young girls in the rural areas who are poor and marginalized could not afford to buy sanitary pads during their menstrual cycles because of the present economic situation of our country,” Ms Kateoyemen said at the launch that was conducted at the Junior Secondary School Waru, Abuja.
She noted that girls who can’t afford decent sanitary materials while on their period resort to using dirty rags which cause them multiple infections.
“Menstrual hygiene should be treated as the fundamental right of a girl child to receive free supplies of sanitary pads. This is why we decided to provide them with free pads,” Ms Kateoyemen said.
