World Menstrual Day, Her Innovation Cameroon in partnership with Plan International drills young girls on Menstrual Hygiene, Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights in Buea.
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Her Innovation Cameroon in partnership with Plan International has educated young girls on Menstrual Hygiene and Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights. The event took place in Government Technical College Bova, a locality in Buea, South West Region of Cameroon on 25 May 2023. This activity was in line with the commemoration of the world menstrual day, which is celebrated annually on 28 May.
According to Her Innovation Cameroon, sexual and reproductive health is the state of complete physical, mental, sexual, and reproductive health and not just the absence of disease. The first present, Achu Denis, who presented on Menstrual Hygiene highlighted the menstrual cycle, how to calculate the menstrual cycle and how to care for oneself during this time. She also highlighted better and more affordable pads to use during the menstruation period, she laid more emphasis on disposable sanitary pads. She further highlighted stigmatization associated with the menstrual flow by using experience to better give an understanding of the subject matter.
According to Lilianne Franka, who presented on the sexual and reproductive health rights of young girls. Her presentation was interactive as she started the presentation with a question, “What do you understand by rights” The question was followed by a series of responses from the students. Students highlighted what they understand as human rights to be; the right to life, the right to good health” the right to be protected by the government and so on. The question according to the presenter was aimed at bringing the attention of the students to the subject matter, which was sexual, and reproductive health rights. According to her, there are some rights which are associated with sexuality and reproduction. That is the right to make choices over your sexuality, whom you want or do not want to be with as a sexual or marital partner, the right to choose if or not you want to have children, the right to or not to have sex and rights to choosing your preferred contraceptive. She also highlighted the different forms of contraceptives, their advantages, and disadvantages associated with their usage.
One of the representatives of Her Innovation Cameroon present during the event, Clifford Chia laid more emphasis on abstinence as the best way to prevent health-related issues associated with unsafe sex among youths. He also encouraged the students to take proper precautions with their health as it is their wealth.
Berinyuy Cajetan is the founder and publisher of Human Rights and Legal Research Centre (HRLRC) since 2017. He has intensive experience in strategic communications for Civil Society Organizations, campaign and advocacy, and social issues. He has an intensive experiencing in human rights monitoring, documentation and reporting.
