General coordinator, Welisane Mokwe Nkeng handing kits to beneficiaries
A union of some not-for-profit organisations, dubbed the International Menstrual Hygiene Coalition, has donated dignity kits to 1,000 Cameroonian girls and women living in neighbouring Nigeria as refugees.
The dignity kits were handed to the victims of the armed conflict rocking the North West and South West Regions, living in Nigeria. They are said to be in dire conditions and facing unbearable conditions during their monthly periods.
The kits, comprising reusable sanitary pads, washing soap, underwears, buckets and other menstrual hygiene products, were handed to the Anglophone crisis refugees at the Okende Refugee Settlement in Ogoja, Cross River State, Nigeria, May 28.
The gesture from members of the coalition is in its third edition. It is part of activities by the coalition to celebrate World Menstrual Hygiene Day every May 28. This year’s celebration was under the theme: “Making menstruation a normal fact of life by 2030”.
The initiative of the coalition, it should be said, is patronised by the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and the Family, MINPROFF, with sponsorship from the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA.
It also benefited support from the Presidency of the Republic, Prime Minister’s Office, with contributions from organisations that make up the coalition.
Other key partners of the project implemented through an integrated, multi-sectoral approach includes; Welisane Foundation, Speak Up Sis, Network for Solidarity, Hope and Empowerment, Chefu Sirri Foundation, Venetta Wmengella Foundation, Shes STEM Foundation, Afrogiveness, Meribah Clinic, among others.
Statistics indicates that over 300 million women worldwide are menstruating daily with 500 million lacking access to menstrual products and adequate facilities for menstrual hygiene management.
Enter Coalition General Coordinator
Members of the coalition used the event to sensitise the beneficiaries on menstrual hygiene education and sexual reproductive health and rights.
Addressing beneficiaries during the donation, the General Coordinator of the International Menstrual Hygiene Coalition, Welisane Mokwe Nkeng, pleaded with all and sundry to end all menstruation related stigma and desist from seeing it as a taboo.
Mokwe Nkeng who doubles as founder of Welisane Foundation, one of the lead organisations championing the coalition’s activities, also urged beneficiaries to embrace good menstrual hygiene practices. This, she said, should be even during these trying moments as menstruation does not stop during conflicts.
“Even though they are far away from home, we are thinking about them and that is why we brought this little gifts on menstrual hygiene day,” Mokwe Nkeng said.
The coalition members also used the occasion to encourage the women and girls to become menstrual hygiene ambassadors. They also taught beneficiaries how to teach their children about period probity. Mokwe Nkeng said the coalition will continue to explore funding avenues and see how they can continue to support the suffering women and girls handle their periods.
Beneficiaries appreciate coalition members
The 1,000 beneficiaries expressed immense gratitude to members of the coalition for thinking of them in this difficult period of their lives.
The Okende Settlement Chairman greatly thanked the donors, disclosing that the gifts from the coalition are the first they are receiving in five years.
“We have been living here for the past five years. We have never experienced such. This is a good and great opportunity given to us by our sisters. We pray that the God that gave them this income will redouble their source,” he said.
The Settlement Chairman used the opportunity to appeal for more assistance from other people of goodwill to enable women and girls in the camp handle their monthly flow.
The Chairlady of the settlement camp on her part appreciated the donors for making the beneficiaries to better understand how to handle their period.
“They have taught us how to use pads and take care of ourselves. The lessons will help our girls who are growing up,” she said.
Many beneficiaries said the dignity kits will not only help them better manage their periods in safety and in dignity but also help curb challenges hitherto faced.
The training, a beneficiary said, “will help us a lot especially the young girls who don’t know how to manage their cycles. Not all parents have the knowledge to educate their children on menstrual hygiene”.
She added that aside the sensitiosation, the pads will also help lessen the financial burden on them. “…most times we don’t have money to buy pads,” the beneficiary added.
Road covered by coalition three years on
Members of the International Menstrual Hygiene Coalition have been donating to Cameroonian refugees in Nigeria for the past three years. Aside the Okende Settlement camp, their interventions have taken them to the Adagom I and II Camps.
The coalition in 2021, assisted some 1,027 women and girls through distribution of reusable sanitary pads while some 2,702 persons were schooled on good menstrual hygiene practices.
In 2022, some 500 women and girls in the Adagom I and II Camps received dignity kits while some 1,640 persons were schooled on menstrual hygiene practices.
The coalition has over the years rallied several government and diplomatic officials, Civil Society Organisation, CSOs, as well as other individuals through a charity fundraiser to raise funds to implement the project. Last week, the sum of 12.5 million FCFA was raised to assist the refugees this year.
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