Stakeholders Call For an End to Menstrual Stigma Against Girls
Participants warming up for the Pad a Girl run over the weekend
ARUA. The different stakeholders in the West Nile sub-region have called for an end to menstrual stigma against the girl-child.
The appeal was made as a result of the challenges young girls face in maintaining menstrual hygiene due to lack of support which has caused mockery to mostly the school-age-going girls leading to high dropout rate in schools.
This was observed during the Arua ‘Pad a Girl’ run in Arua city over the weekend.
The run was part of a fundraising drive aimed at addressing menstrual stigma among girls by empowering them to make reusable pads, providing menstrual materials to school girls and promoting mindset change on menstrual stigma.
In West Nile, the school completion rate among girls at the primary level is low, at around 35 to 38%.
This is mainly attributed to menstrual stigma among the girl child, early teenage pregnancy, peer pressure, lack of support, among other factors.
Speaking during the run, Janet Alobo Patricia, the Miss West Nile 2024/2025, implored the community to rise against the cultural myths of viewing menstruation as a sign of maturity for girls to get married at an early age.
She called upon the leaders to join hands to address the challenge and encourage communities to prioritize education.
Meanwhile Mercy Maneno, the Mentoring and Empowerment Programme for Young Women (MEMPROW) programs officer Arua office, said the region lags behind due to limited access to menstrual materials and lack of empowerment for girls to make their own reusable pads, especially in rural areas.
She urged development partners to train school-age-going girls to make their own menstrual materials so as to end stigma.
Rashul Adidi, a youth MP aspirant for Northern Uganda, stressed that the dropout rate among girls in the region is high.
“We need to combine efforts to address the high school dropout rate in order to create a better future for our girls,” Adidi appealed.