Federal government has again called for strong partnership towards value reorientation on menstrual hygiene to make understand what it means for development of women and girls Nigeria.

Minister of Women Affairs Barrister Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye said the drive to create understanding of the central place of menstrual hygiene in promoting national health and wellbeing can only be achieved through partnership and the involvement of all.

She made this known as a one-day National Dialogue on Menstrual Health and Hygiene with the theme “Accelerating Efforts for Eradicating Menstrual Poverty” weekend in Abuja.

She said “Accessing menstrual and health hygiene nationwide is low because it was discovered that only 36 percent of five hundred million women use sanitary napkins while 71 percent of girls lack knowledge about menstruation before their first period.

“Limited access to clean water and sanitation facilities further complicates hygiene maintenance during menstruation,” the Minister revealed.

She adds that as a government, “We will do whatever we can to ensure that it is limited in Nigeria therefore this dialogue emphasizes that period poverty isn’t just about lacking menstrual products but extends to insufficient education and awareness.

“Accelerating efforts for eradicating menstrual poverty in Nigeria will help to address the rising cost of sanitary products hindering women and girls from affording them monthly.”

She therefore, urged all Stakeholders to recognize menstrual health hygiene as crucial to gender equality and public health and to support the development of guidelines for comprehensive menstrual health education in educational systems, raise awareness to reduce stigma and provide access to free and subsidized menstrual products to alleviate period poverty in Nigeria.

Country Director, PLAN International, Charles Usie, stresses the need for continuous enlightenment campaigns on menstrual because menstruation is still considered a taboo subject in many communities and this impedes menstrual hygiene promotion efforts.

Represented by the Director, Programme Quality and Influencing, Helen Idiong, PLAN International, he said “In many localities and in many places, we find out that menstruation is still considered a taboo and so the more we do these kinds of activities and speak about it, the better it is for everyone especially the girl child.”