LABOUR ECONOMISTS AND AFRIKAN DEMOCRATS (LEAD) acknowledges the noble step taken by Government to procure sanitary wear for underpriviledged girls in Zimbabwe.
In as much as we celebrate this move we need clarity on how the program will be rolled out to ensure that no under privileged girl is left behind.
We implore Government to bear in mind that this process will also require the government to be consistent in the process. Will the government be consistent with what it has started or its one of their election scam targeting public sympathy from locals as we are slowly approaching the 2023 elections.
As much as LEAD rallies behind the idea, we would like to have clarity that this programme will not come to an end or deemed unnecessary any time soon because every girls dignity is our dignity. LEAD feels that the government isn’t doing enough for the underpriviledged girls.
It does not only have to come around to donations rather the government should scrap tax on these sanitary wear and undergarments so that they are cheap and affordable to an extent that there will reduction in the demand for donations.
Furthermore they should target girls in Rural Areas and Peri Urban areas as some girls will end up being school drop outs due to menstrual unhygiene. One cannot go to school on her monthly periods without decent sanitary wear.
Failure for the girl child to attend school because they can’t access sanitary wear is tantamount to girl child abuse and we will all be responsible for wasting the girl childs future.
LEAD calls for the government to donate sanitary wear without any partisan lenses. Moreso its the government’s duty to take care of the underpriviledged.
We also encourage the government to engage the underpriviledged in societies and people living with disability in projects so as to ensure that girls will be able to afford their needs, sanitary wear in particular.
Government should also be aware that sanitary wear only will not be enough as the menstruation is accompanied with pain.
Thus they ought to donate tablets such as pain killers and paracetamol to ease the underprivileged girls pain.
#TogetherWeCanSaveTheGirlChild
Rosline Ncube
LEAD Secretary for Information and Publicity