BUSHENYI – The Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga has Friday 21 hailed Bushenyi woman MP, Hon Karoro Okurut for starting up a factory for making reusable sanitary towels saying this will help many girls to stay in school.
Ms. Kadaga made these remarks while officiating at the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the Reusable sanitary towel factory, youth skilling centre and Fortified food Mill in Nyakabirizi town Bushenyi district earlier on Friday.
Hon. Karoro Okurut says the factory will help many girls not to leave school because of lack of sanitary towels during their menstruation periods and that the food factory will reduce on the rampant malnutrition in Bushenyi.
Last week, the speaker launched the #GirlsGetEqual campaign that seeks to foster rights and equal treatment of girl child in Uganda initiated by Plan Uganda at Hotel Africana.
The youth-led campaign is built on three major pillars that include; equal freedom, equal rights, and equal representation.
According to the Plan Uganda tweet, the campaign will end in 2022.
“By the end of the #GirlsGetEqual campaign in 2022, we believe that we shall celebrate a new era, we shall become unstoppable and very empowered, we won’t stop until girls are equally seen, heard and valued,” read the tweet.
Ms. Kadaga who was the chief guest at the function noted that the campaign will get support from the government as well as committing to listening to the voices of girls.
“The journey to realization of equality for girls is a gradual process and we have quite some way to go to achieve real gender equality,” says Kadaga.
Last year, a local Non-government organization in conjunction with the Sironko district local government skilled pupils in making sanitary pads from local materials to ensure girl-child stays in school even during menstrual periods.
The project started by Network for Community Development [NCD], a local NGO, targeted pupils mainly girls from Primary Three to Primary Seven in Busiita, Buhugu, Budadiri girls and Nakirungu primary schools in Sironko.
According to the director NCD Cassim Gibusiwa the teachers, parents and pupils were taught by their NCD how to make re-usable pads and that these later will, in turn, teach others.
