Makueni, Kitui get sanitary pads for girls
Always sanitary pads. Kenyan women on Twitter have called for a boycott of Always sanitary towels, accusing the manufacturer, Proctor & Gamble, of supplying the African market with substandard products. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
Girls in Makueni and Kitui counties were the first to benefit from the free sanitary towels distributed by the government starting yesterday.
- Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs, Dr Margaret Kobia, said the pads would be distributed to four million girls countrywide.
This means that Sh127 will be used on every girl registered and enrolled in a public school and has reached puberty.
The government will spend Sh470 million on the purchase and distribution of sanitary towels for school girls.
Girls in Makueni and Kitui counties were the first to benefit from the free sanitary towels distributed by the government starting yesterday.
Speaking at Uhuru Park in Nairobi when she flagged off the consignment, Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Youth and Gender Affairs, Dr Margaret Kobia, said the pads would be distributed to four million girls countrywide. This means that Sh127 will be used on every girl registered and enrolled in a public school and has reached puberty.
Dr Kobia said that the project was started to enhance quality education for girls. She noted that it will help eliminate absenteeism, increase retention of girls in schools and improve academic performance.
A United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) study showed 10 per cent of African adolescent girls miss school during menses and eventually drop out mainly due to the inaccessibility of affordable sanitary protection.
Over 508,000 sanitary towels were sent to Makueni County for 127,105 girls and 635,560 towels for 158,895 girls in Kitui Counties.
The two counties are among those in the pilot region for sanitary towel project. All other counties are expected to receive their consignments by June.
