By Bashir Hassan Abubakar
Bauchi State House of Assembly (BAHA) in collaboration with Attah Sisters Helping Hand (ASHH) Foundation and Child is Gold Foundation, with support from Women for Women International (WFWI) have organised public hearing on a bill seeking to establish sanitary pad banks in Schools and Correctional Facilities across Bauchi State.
The bill public hearing, which was held at the BAHA complex on Wednesday 27 February, 2025, attracted CEOs of the State relevant MDAs, women led CSOs, and the media.
In an opening remark, the majority leader of the House, Hon. Sale Hodi Jibir, who represented the Speaker, Right Honourable Abubakar Y. Suleiman, appreciated the participants for their interests in menstrual hygiene promotion.
The speaker expressed his optimism that when the law is finally amended, it will support indegent female students that could not afford sanitary pads during school sessions.
He commended all State actors, Women for Women International (WfWI), ASHH Foundation, Child is Gold Foundation, other CSOs and the media for their patients in seeing the amendments of the bill reaching its logical conclusion.
The Speaker then reiterated the commitment of the house members to supporting initiatives that would enhance women’s development in the State.
In his welcome address, the Chairman House Committee on Health Hon. Lawal Dauda said that one of the problems bedeviling school girls is poor management of menstruations in their school environments due to lack of access to sanitary pads.
Hon. Dauda said that the consequences are far-reaching, that leads to school absenteeism which sometimes, leads to dropping out of school completely by the indegent female students.
“This development without doubt is seriously hampering the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG4) on quality education and (SDG5) on gender equality and women empowerment”.
“Distinguished invited guests, we are here to discuss a Bill for a Law to provide an amendment to Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Development Board Law, 2012 which is aimed at creating Menstrual Hygiene Department. The Department when created would be saddled with the responsibility of providing free sanitary pads in Primary, Secondary and Community Schools across the State so as to address menstrual hygiene challenges among school girls and out-of-school girls.This, in turn, can promote gender equity, improve school attendance, and enhance the health and dignity of girls in the State. Equally, it would provide a framework for the establishment and management of pad banks, aligning with global best practices and Sustainable Development Goals in our dear State”, Hon. Dauda enthused.
The house committee chairman further said that the Public Hearing was organized by the House Committee on Health and Human Services with a view to collating views, observations and/or comments in respect of the amendment Bill so that the desired results would be achieved.
Hon. Dauda also extended his committee’s appreciation to all attendees stressing that, “Women for Women International, ASHH Foundation and Child is Gold Foundation were instrumental in organizing this important event”.
Speaking on the sidelines with our correspondent, the Executive Director (ED) of ASHH Foundation, Ambassador Comfort Attah, disclosed that the mentrual hygiene promotion campaign has been a collective effort of so many CSOs, CBOs and other Community Resource Persons across the State.
Attah expressed her confidence that when the law is amended, it will address the challenges associated with menstrual hygiene management in schools and female wings of Correctional Facilities across the State.
She stressed that CSOs are ready to partner with Government in the effective and efficient implementation of the sanitary pad banks system in the state.
Amb. Attah further commended the effort of the State legislators under the leadership of speaker Abubakar Y. Suleiman for granting audience to CSOs in the State.
The ASHH Foundation ED also expressed her gratitude, on behalf of all CSOs, to Women for Women International for their financial and technical support towards the realisation of the Pad Bank initiative and other women related issues that are aimed at women advancement in Bauchi State.