By George Bukenya
In an effort to encourage girls to complete at least primary education, the Transport Union has launch a country wide free sanitary pad issuance where the beneficiarias will receive the napkins that will last them for a full year.
The efforts according to the Union Patron Fred Senago are not only aimed at keeping the girl child in school, but also help enhance the economy because this will lead to achieving of more women professionals in the various sectors of Uganda’s economy.
Speaking to reporters at Uganda Media Centre in Kampala, Senoga said that the Union he leads deals with over 10 million people and a huge majority are women and girls.The Transport Alliance deals with a constituency of about 10 million people and since the majority are women, we want to bring them into our eco-system, since we are aiming at digitalizing the sector,'' he said. He further argued, we cant bring them on board when challenges affecting the girl child like lack of proper sanitary pads that deter her from completing school is not tackled.”
Senoga also said that the rural execessive poverty levels is partly attributed to massive drop out of school by the girl child which is caused by lack of supply of sanitary pads.
The commissioner from the Ministry of Health in charge of Reproductive Health department Dr. Richard Munganyi who officiated at the launch admitted that government lacks a comprehensive approach towards management of such challenge affecting teenagers in schools.If the mestorial perionds of especially teenagers are not properly handled, they can lead to bacteria infections hence causing disease,'' he argued. In a certain district over 500 girls missed school for a full term due lack of sanitary pads such girls were stigmatised so we want to address this such that it doesn’t continue occuring.”
The Commissioner also revealed that as part of the solution, government is planning to start a pilot model were safe changing facilites for pads including a disposal mechanism will be provided at government aided schools.
Dr. Muganyi also warned men to stop engaging teenagers into sex because this cause them to get unwanted pregnancy and besides that their bodies are not yet ready to carry such pregnancies and this lead to complections results into diseases like festula to them.
He also argued parents to give straught messages to their girl child to stop engaging in erly sex which leads to pregnancies some thing he said affects the country’s development when such young people drop out of school.
Although the Transport Alliance according to Senoga, is targeting one million learners at the start, commissioner Mungayi said that there are about 11 million primary school going children and with government coming on board, at least 6 millions should be targeted.
The member of parliament for Kagoma County, Kamuli District who is also the outgoing NRM Parliamentary Cacus spokesperson Brandon Kintu who also attended the press briefing pledged to rally his fellow MPs to contribute towards the cause.
Players in the sector represented by their respective chairpersons pledged to vehemently support this noble cause through buying sanitary pads as well as providing free transport to the different destinations of the napkins.