Govt urged to subsidise price of sanitary pads

Women’s rights group has called on the gov­ernment to subsidise the price of sanitary pads in the country, to make them accessible to young girls.

This is because some girls resort to the use of unsanitary materials, including rags not well kept for menstrual flow, which affect the health of girls.

Women’s rights groups at a meeting, in Accra, said the move would help save the girl child from the tendency of staying out of school during mensuration.

The group discussed report on the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW).

The group made up of civil society organisa­tions and women leaders in the country, attended the two-day national consultation, which was organised by Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF) Ghana and funded by Plan International Ghana, OXFAM in Ghana, Cross­roads International and Women’s Voice and Leader­ship in Ghana.

It aimed to discuss the ex­tent of the implementation of the CEDAW Treaty in Ghana and agree on critical areas of concern for con­sideration by the CEDAW committee in its review of Ghana’s 8th and 9th periodic reports.

Ghana is due to submit its 8th and 9th periodic reports to be reviewed by the CEDAW Committee this year, and WILDAF Ghana is championing the cause to lead Women’s rights groups to prepare a shadow report to support a com­prehensive review of the situation of women in Ghana by the CEDAW Committee.

Ms Esther Naa Ankrah, Chief Executive Officer of Yayra-SI Youth Foundation, based at Shai-Osudoku Municipality, appealed to govern­ment to allow Ghanaian companies producing re-usable sanitary pads under cover, to operate.

The former chairperson of the CEDAW Committee, Hilary Amesika Gbademah, said the shadow report was to ensure that the committee had the best and most honest report that reflect­ed women’s rights in the country.

The National Programmes Coordinator, WiLDAF Ghana, Ms Melody Darkey, said WiLDAF Ghana’s contributions and relationship nationally, regionally and internationally placed it at a unique position to lead the process of coordinating the NGO shadow report to the CEDAW committee.

Acting High Commissioner of Canada to Ghana, Kathleen Flynn-Dapaah, said her country would support WILDAF Ghana in its prepa­ration towards the shadow report to CEDAW committee.

BY VIVIAN ARTHUR