NAN-HG-10
Girls
Abuja, Oct. 20, 2017 (NAN) The Aids Health Care Foundation (AHF ), an NGO on Friday in Abuja said it had distributed sanitary pads to no fewer than 260 young girls in Kogi and Nassarawa states.
A statement issued by Mr Steve Aborisade, Advocacy and Marketing Manager AHF Foundation, said the distribution was in commemoration of the International Day of the Girl Child which held on Oct.11.
Aborisade said the goal of the event was to bring together young minds to interact and discuss sexual reproductive health, menstrual health, and preventive messages on HIV and AIDs in rural communities.
He said the event which held at Isanlu Town Hall Yagba East Local Government Area of Kogi State, had 140 girls from various schools and communities who received sanitary pads.
The schools he said included Rehoboth, Aunty Cama, and Michaelian Secondary Schools, as well as out-of-school girls from Isanlu community of Kogi state.
The statement also quoted the AHF Kogi Coordinator Dr Popoola Victor as saying “the event was aimed at empowering and supporting young girls on menstrual hygiene’’.
Victor further called on the Kogi state Government to invest in the menstrual hygiene of young girls in the state, which would encourage them to stay in school and live productive lives.
In Nassarawa state, Aborisade said that 90 girls from Government Secondary School Sabon Gida, 10 girls from Universal Basic Education and 20 out-of-school girls representing Garaku community received sanitary pads.
According to Aborisade, AHF believes that girls must be given the opportunity to live their lives to their expectations and something so central to a woman’s development should never be a barrier to their success.
“ It is in this regards that we have decided to do something big to support menstrual Health for young women and girls in the country.’’
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that AIDS Healthcare Foundation is the largest non-profit HIV and AIDS organisation in the world that provides health care to more than 600,000 patients in 36 countries.
AHF Nigeria has been operating in the country since 2011 and has its presence in six states. (NAN)
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Edited by Ese E. Ekama