CHED’S GENDER & CHILD LABOUR DESK CHAMPIONS MENSTRUAL HYGIENE IN 75 SCHOOLS

Date: 10th June 2025

The Gender, Child Labour, and Environmental Issues Desk of the Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED) in the Western South Cocoa Region has concluded a week-long campaign on menstrual hygiene education and sanitary pad distribution in basic schools across the region. The initiative is a significant step toward improving girls’ education and overall well-being.

The initiative, implemented with support from Itochu Food Sales and Marketing Company Limited, was under the theme, “Let’s Keep Girls in School: One Pad at a Time." A total of 75 schools across 35 cocoa-growing communities within 15 districts benefited from the programme, which targeted over 6,000 school girls.

The campaign aimed to remove one of the critical barriers to girl-child education, which is the limited access to menstrual hygiene products, while raising awareness and challenging the stigma surrounding menstruation.

The Regional Coordinator for Gender, Child Labour, and Environmental Issues of CHED, Ms. Akua Yeboah Oduro-Owusu, who spearheaded the project, emphasised the link between menstrual hygiene and educational success. She encouraged parents, particularly cocoa farmers, to consider the sanitary needs of their daughters as essential, suggesting that purchasing sanitary pads should become a budgeting priority when income is earned from cocoa sales.

Ms. Oduro-Owusu also used the platform to address harmful myths and societal attitudes while encouraging girls not to miss school due to menstruation. She appealed to boys to show empathy and support instead of resorting to mockery when their female classmates experience menstrual accidents.

“By empowering girls with sanitary products and the right information, and by fostering a culture of respect and understanding among boys, we are creating a more inclusive and supportive school environment,” she stated.

The programme was further backed by other generous donors, including Goldfields Ghana, Eco-Care Ghana, the regional office staff of CHED, and B-Bovid, whose contributions helped scale the campaign’s impact.

This initiative marks a meaningful step forward in reducing school absenteeism among girls in cocoa-growing communities and fostering gender-sensitive education in rural Ghana.

By Ms. Akua Yeboah Oduro-Owusu
Regional Coordinator for Gender, Child Labour, and Environmental Issues