Isiolo County distributes sanitary pads to girls
What you need to know:
- The Isiolo County Government has rolled out distribution of sanitary towels.
- Girls from 10 wards will benefit from the 21,000 sanitary towels.
- Programme seeks to ensure 5,250 girls who have been at home for five months have regular supplies of the towels.
The Isiolo County Government has rolled out distribution of sanitary towels to ensure girls have supply of the essential commodity.
County special programmes chief officer Ms Abdia Dabaso said girls from 10 wards will benefit from the 21,000 sanitary towels.
“The programme seeks to ensure 5,250 girls who have been at home for five months have regular supplies of the towels so that they are not lured into bad sexual behaviour,” said Ms Abdia.
Speaking during flagging off the Sh1.8 million consignment at Isiolo Municipality offices, Ms Abdia said Governor Mohamed Kuti was committed towards ensuring the girls are comfortable while at home.
Some girls, especially in remote areas, have gone to an extent of engaging in sex in exchange of sanitary towels.
Empower girl child
Vivian Emojo, a beneficiary, hailed the county for the donation and appealed to other organisations to join hands with the devolved unit towards empowering the girl child.
“It has been challenging to get the pads that we used to get for free in school. I appreciate the county for remembering us,” said Ms Emojo.
With many parents and guardians having lost their jobs and others closing down their businesses in the wake of Covid-19, they are not able to provide them with the essentials.
A lobby group, Women Rising, that in the last two months donated sanitary towels to girls in some parts of the county, said the recent donations will complement their efforts.
“The donations come in handy and will be a major boost to our continuing programme aimed at covering all the girls in the county,” said an official, Ms Godano Yusuf.
Ms Grace Lolim of Isiolo Gender Watch lamented that parents in far flung areas were not concerned about their girls’ menstrual health, noting that there was a huge need for pads in those areas.
“The donations come in handy because due to poverty, girls have not been getting pads and some of them are easily lured into immorality in return for money to buy the essentials,” said Ms Lolim.
