UNICEF decries lack of basic sanitation services in Oyo 

The United Nations Children’s Fund has decried the lack of access to basic sanitation services and facilities in 74 per cent of schools in Oyo State. UNICEF’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Consultant, Lagos office, Dr. Emmanuel Orebiyi, disclosed this in Ibadan during a Menstrual Hygiene Management Stakeholders’ Engagement.

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The event was organised by the Oyo State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency with technical support from UNICEF. It was organised to celebrate the 2023 Menstrual Hygiene Day in Oyo State.

In his presentation, Orebiyi said that 91.4 per cent of schools in Oyo State do not have disposable mechanism for menstrual hygiene waste.

The UNICEF consultant, who sought the intervention of all stakeholders, including the government, said that 0.4 per cent of schools in the state provided menstrual hygiene materials (MHM) such as pad free. Orebiyi also noted that only eight per cent of schools in Nigeria have girls’ toilets compartment with provisions for MHM.

“MHM should be a concern not only for women but for men and women equally, as well as societies. I, therefore, urge governments to invoke the ethical principles of beneficence and healthcare justice for the development of coordinated health policy by all levels of government,” he added.

Orebiyi added that such coordinated health policy would support the development and implementation of effective MHM programmes.

The UNICEF consultant further maintained that empowering women through MHM involved providing education and awareness, as well as ensuring affordable and accessible menstrual products.

He however called for improved MHM awareness, saying that effective action would lead to better reproductive health, better academic performance and greater self-esteem.

RUWASSA Director of Community Mobilisation and Hygiene Education, Mr. Adegoke Ayodele, said the programme was aimed at brainstorming and equipping girls of menstrual age with the required knowledge. He listed mood swings, pains, stooling, vomiting, and tiredness, amongst others, as part of the challenges faced by some girls during menstrual periods.

Ayodele reiterates that Nigerians should be discouraged from believing in wrong myths about menstruation and called for awareness creation through the dissemination of appropriate information to the public. “There is the need to improve pupils’ and teachers knowledge on menstruation hygiene while promoting action on menstrual health,” he said.

UNICEF Representative, Mrs. Aderonke Akinola-Akinwole and Mr Olabode Popoola, a RUWASSA Director, highlighted the importance of the stakeholders’ engagement.

Akinola-Akinwole said the meeting was crucial to the development of the girl-child through eradication of menstrual poverty and promotion of sound menstrual health as well as hygiene, while Popoola called for collective effort of all stakeholders towards ensuring effective MHM.

Wumi/Punch