First Lady’s Menstrual Hygiene Initiative gains momentum
First Lady, Arya Ali (second from right) receives a donation from Metro
First Lady, Arya Ali (second from right) receives a donation from Metro

MORE and more persons seem to be understanding the importance of the First Lady, Arya Ali’s Menstrual Hygiene Initiative, so much so, that she has started receiving donations by the container. According to a social media post issued by the Office of the First Lady of Guyana, a company called GH&PS has donated in excess of 3,000 boxes of Sleepy sanitary pads, while other companies such as Metro Office Supplies and Brothers Security Firm have added hundreds more.
As a result of the donations, the First Lady said that Guyana is moving closer to eradicating period poverty.
Amid the growing support to ensure all of Guyana’s girls have access to hygienic sanitary supplies while experiencing their menstrual cycle, Ali said that the work must be sustained.
“That is why your contribution, however small, is needed. For my part, I will continue to mobilise resources, both from the government and private sector, to ensure that at a bare minimum, our girls are not forced to leave school because of period poverty,” she related.

First Lady, Mrs. Arya Ali (first from right) receiving a donation of sanitary pads from members of corporate Guyana

Ali had announced the launch of her Menstrual Hygiene Initiative in January, during an exclusive interview with the Guyana Chronicle.
In addition to mobilising donations in support of the cause, the First Lady also hosted a fundraising event titled, ‘Chari-tea’, back in March.
That elegant tea party, held at State House in Georgetown, was well received and sought to raise $6 million, which was used to purchase sanitary pads and other products for school-aged girls in the hinterland. Due to the magnitude of the mission to eliminate period poverty, the efforts are being rolled out in phases, beginning with the provision of sanitary pads to the most vulnerable. “The gravity of this problem was highlighted in a casual conversation I had with a stranger who pointed out that girls were forced to skip school routinely, and in some instances drop out permanently, because they could not afford sanitary products,” Ali told donors at the tea party.
She emphasised that this is unacceptable, and: “no girl should be placed in a situation in which she is forced to [be] absent from or quit school because of her inability to afford sanitary products.”

Contributions to the First Lady’s Menstrual Hygiene Initiative have increased tremendously, as seen here where members of corporate society donated a container load of sanitary pads to First Lady, Arya Ali (first from right)

She noted that period poverty deprives girls of the very education which they need to grasp economic and other opportunities, while highlighting that it can result in harmful psychological effects such as impaired cognitive skills and social isolation. To bring an end to this undesirable plight, the First Lady believes that there must first be an end to the denial of period poverty, after which conversations around women’s health must be normalised, even in spaces occupied only by men. “We must also disabuse ourselves of the idea that menstruation is exclusively a female concern. It is not. It is a concern for all because when girls are deprived of education and economic opportunities as a result of period poverty, it is the entire society which is affected, not just women,” Ali had said. In an effort to get a greater sense of how period poverty affects the development of women and girls, the Ministry of Education, under the leadership of Priya Manickchand, had recently moved to execute a survey seeking to assess the impact of periods, specifically in relation to the education and academic advancement of girls.
“We have never studied how many girls are absent [due to their periods]; how many times a year or how many times a month; or how many of them cannot afford pads,” Minister Manickchand told the Guyana Chronicle.

In observance of Menstrual Hygiene Day 2018 on May 28, the World Bank had published an article which pointed to the fact that globally, at least 500 million women and girls lack adequate facilities for menstrual hygiene management (MHM). “Inadequate WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) facilities, particularly in public places, such as in schools, workplaces or health centres, can pose a major obstacle to women and girls,” the article posited.  It informed too that a growing body of evidence shows that girls’ inability to manage their menstrual hygiene in schools, results in school absenteeism, which in turn, has severe economic costs on their lives and on their country.
“The challenge menstruating girls and women face is often less tangible than simply the availability of infrastructure, and is rooted in social norms and beliefs. In many cultures, menstruating women are considered impure and are systematically excluded from participating in everyday activities, such as education, employment, and cultural and religious practices,” the World Bank said.

The report also highlighted that the taboos and stigmas attached to menstruation often lead to an overall culture of silence around the topic, resulting in limited and in some cases, misinformation on menstruation and menstrual hygiene. In conclusion, the World Bank referenced the importance of ‘contextual’ research relating to menstrual hygiene, and its commitment to supporting such initiatives. Nonetheless, as the First Lady’s Menstrual Hygiene Initiative gains momentum, Guyana could possibly become the second country in the world to eliminate “period poverty”. Last year, Scotland became the first to provide free sanitary products to women and girls in the country.
For centuries, “period poverty” has forced women in all parts of the world to use a series of unhygienic substitutes for tampons and pads, stemming from rags and old cloths, to even socks.

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