Wajir girls' schools to get dignity packages

Wajir Girls' Secondary School Principal Hawa Abdi (left) with students. [Mohamed Abdi,Standard]

A noble initiative to provide sanitary pads to more than 25 girls' schools in Wajir has been launched.

The event, which took place on Wednesday, February 7, at Wajir Girls Secondary School, was attended by school heads and students from Wajir East and Tarbaj sub-counties.

The initiative was sponsored by Siyad Foundation, an organisation that aims to deliver pads to all schools in the two sub-counties.

The foundation also pledged to champion girl child education by offering specialised support to help them pursue their aspirations.

Wajir Girls Secondary School Principal Hawa Abdi thanked Siyad Foundation for the timely intervention.

She spoke about the diverse effects that students who cannot afford sanitary pads face.

"Girls face numerous challenges and one of them is lack of pads in schools. This affects their self-esteem and also leads to poor results in schools," she said.

Amina Abdi, an official from Siyad Foundation, also urged the girls to work hard in school and not worry much about sanitary pads.

"Our objective is to ensure each and every girl has access to sanitary pads. This will boost their morale and also their performance in school will improve," she added.

Wajir East Director of Education Nur Ibrahim said that donating sanitary pads can have a huge positive impact on the lives of girls and women.

He cited studies that have found that giving out sanitary pads to girls leads to a significant reduction in sexually transmitted infections and bacterial vaginosis.

Ibrahim also said that providing a girl with sanitary pads may increase her chances of staying in school by more than 30 per cent.

He encouraged the girls to adopt good menstrual health and hygiene practices to prevent infections, reduce odours, and help them stay comfortable during their period.