Proctor and Gamble, or P&G, has asked the federal government, civil society, and the private sector to give priority to efforts to combat the stigmatization of period health, access to menstrual health products, and hygiene education.
The National Centre for Women Development, NCWD, and P&G recently worked together to increase the skills of Nigerian women artisans while providing 2,000 packs of Always sanitary pads to support the training’s menstrual health teaching sessions.
Speaking, the managing director of Procter & Gamble Nigeria, Mokutima Ajileye, stated that the presence of women artisans is noteworthy because it dispels gender preconceptions in an industry where men predominate.
“I would like to applaud the efforts of NCWD on this laudable feat of integrating the informal economy into the mainstream capacity building. When capacities of women in this field are developed, more opportunities abound for women which ultimately lead to better economic outcomes for them and their families.”
She added that P&G has continued to show its dedication to enhancing local capacity through a number of programs like the Women Entrepreneur Development Program (WEDP), which focuses on educating women business owners all throughout Africa.
More than 2,000 SMEs in Nigeria have been trained by P&G’s Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs Academy in the critical skills needed to integrate into the global value chain.
“I am excited at the integration of menstrual health management training in this program. Menstrual health management is one of the focus of our citizenship programs in Nigeria due to the accompanying health issues linked with poor menstrual health.”
The International Children’s Emergency Fund of the United Nations estimates that more than 52 million women in Nigeria go through the menstrual cycle, and that more than half of them lack access to sanitary pads.
“At P&G, we are committed to ensuring that nothing gets in the way of the success of young girls and women. Through P&G’s Always Keeping Girls in School Program we are able to do just that, having donated over 30 million pads to over 300,000 girls in Nigeria and over 1 million girls across Africa,” commented Ajimeye.
“Last October, we launched the 2021/22 Always Keeping Girls in School (HAGGIS) program in Nigeria to raise the awareness of menstrual hygiene management and support adolescent girls in schools across the federation.”
The AKGIS program provides a year’s worth of sanitary pads and menstrual health education to thousands of girls in the Federal Capital Territory and Ogun State.
P&G will expand its Always Keeping Girls in School Program to other states in Nigeria in 2022–2023 to reach more girls in rural and peri-urban regions and show its continuous commitment to being a force for good.
The director general of the National Center for Women Development, Dr. Asabe Vilita Bashir, as well as representatives of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and members of civil society participated in the event.
