The Anglican Diocesan Development and Relief Organisation (ADDRO), has donated sanitary pads, books and pens to students of the St. Peter`s Anglican Junior High School in the Gozesi community of the Bawku West District.
The gesture by the organisation in the distribution of sanitary pads was also extended to community members, including men, women, and young girls, during a sensitisation program on gender-based violence.
This comes a week after it had made a similar donation to the Zaring Junior High School in the Builsa North Municipality of the Upper East Region in line with its work in promoting gender equality and social inclusion interventions.
The donations, with support from the Episcopal Relief Development in the United States of America (USA), aimed at contributing towards preventing and ending gender-based violence.
It also formed part of its activities for this year`s 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence in recognition of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, held on the theme “Unite, Invest to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls.”.
The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence is an international civil society-led campaign that takes place on November 25 each year, aimed at eliminating gender-based violence, and ends on December 10, Human Rights Day, indicating that violence against women is the most pervasive breach of human rights worldwide.
Madam Rebecca Lariba Seidu, Gender Officer, ADDRO, addressing the students and community members on the forms of gender-based violence, indicated that both men and women experienced violence, but the violence against women and girls was the most pervasive.
She noted that the fight against gender-based violence demanded a collective effort from both men and women, with a deliberate attempt to addressing the barriers to girls` education since they were those at risk.
Madam Lariba underscored the need to believe and support gender-based violence survivors, explaining that one of the biggest barriers to ending gender-based violence today was that survivors were often not believed when they spoke up.
Mr Anthony Ayadago, a teacher at St. Peter`s Anglican JHS who spoke on behalf of the head teacher, thanked ADDRO for the donation, emphasizing that the materials donated would make a positive impact on the lives of students in their academic activities.
Mr Sulamana Afuugu Bukari, the Assembly member of the Gozesi Electoral Area, while expressing his gratitude for the gesture by the organisation, reechoed that gender-based violence was a human rights issue and the efforts by ADDRO was in the right direction to eliminating the phenomenon.
Mr Kassim Akurugu, a participant and beneficiary of the donation noted that the sensitisation and gesture offered, further highlighted to the men the plight of women, and he was committed to investing in his little way to prevent gender-based violence.
“I will be giving these sanitary pads I received to my wife, and by this gesture of ADDRO, it tells me how much of a problem women have and the support they need from us,” he added.
GNA