By Emelia B. Addae
New Abirem (E/R), July 4, GNA – The Ghana Chamber of Mines and Zijin Golden Ridge Limited have launched an eight-month sanitary pad programme to reduce menstrual poverty and keep 1,036 schoolgirls in mining communities in school.
The intervention, under the Chamber of Mines’s Purple Peach Project, will provide free sanitary pads to female pupils in basic schools across Zijin Golden Ridge Limited’s host communities in the Birim North District of the Eastern Region.
Dr Kenneth Ashigbey, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, announced the initiative at a donation ceremony in New Abirem, the district capital.
The event brought together students, nurses, traditional leaders and officials of the Birim North District Assembly.
Dr Ashigbey noted that many girls across the country continued to miss school because they could not afford menstrual hygiene products.
“Through the Purple Peach Project, we are to ensure that menstruation doesn’t become a barrier to learning or to achieving one’s dream,” he said.
He explained that he initiative sought to improve the health, dignity and educational outcomes of girls in mining communities by addressing a key barrier to school attendance.
The CEO urged boys and teachers to support girls during menstruation instead of ridiculing them when they accidentally soiled themselves.
“We together with teachers should help them if such an incident should happen. That will make us better boys and men,” he said.
Dr Ashigbey said the project reflected the Chamber’s commitment to responsible mining, emphasising that the industry’s contribution should extend beyond mineral extraction to improving the lives of host communities.
He noted that member companies invested millions of dollars annually in education, healthcare, water and sanitation, infrastructure, and economic empowerment.
He said the Purple Peach Project also contributes to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal Three on Good Health and Well-being, Goal Four on Quality Education, Goal Five on Gender Equality and Goal Six on Clean Water and Sanitation.
Dr Ashigbey said the Chamber, through its Tertiary Education Fund, had invested more than US$2 million in scholarships and educational infrastructure at the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT).
He reiterated the Chamber’s appeal to government to increase the share of mineral royalties returned directly to mining communities to 30 per cent.
According to him, additional resources should be invested in industrialisation, infrastructure, education and healthcare to ensure mining communities experience tangible development from the resources extracted from their lands.
Mr Derek Boateng, Senior Manager for Sustainability and External Relations at Zijin Golden Ridge Limited, said the company’s corporate social responsibility extended beyond its mining operations.
“That is why we are proud to partner with the Ghana Chamber of Mines on the Purple Peach Project,” he said.
Mr Solomon Azubile, Birim North District Director of Education, described the intervention as a timely complement to the Government’s Free Sanitary Pad Distribution Programme.
He said the initiative would help reduce absenteeism, improve girls’ participation in school and contribute to efforts to reduce teenage pregnancy.
As part of the programme, beneficiaries received education on proper menstrual hygiene management, including the correct use and safe disposal of sanitary pads.
GNA
Editing by D. I. Laary/Kenneth Odeng Adade
Reporter: Emelia B. Addae
Email: [email protected]