Hope for Future Generations (HFFG) on Thursday, 25th June 2020, took delivery of packs of hygiene kits and emergency food supplies from the Ghana office of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA Ghana), for onward distribution to marginalised young people, especially those living with HIV, across Ghana.
The support items were presented at a brief ceremony in Accra, by the Deputy Country Representative of UNFPA Ghana, Dr. Agnes Ntibanyurwa.
Dr. Ntibanyurwa explained that UNFPA’s mandate is to ensure that every young person’s dream is achieved, thus even in the times of pandemics such as COVID-19 the organisation works hard with the aim to “Leave No One Behind”.
The Executive Director of HFFG, Ms. Cecilia Senoo thanked and commended UNFPA for their dedication in empowering and providing psychosocial support to young people living with HIV across Ghana, over the years. She added, “It is not surprising that UNFPA is still supporting and making sure that young people living with HIV, are catered for during this global COVID-19 pandemic”. Ms. Senoo revealed that HFFG currently works with over 120 young persons living with HIV across Ghana and will continue mobilising and empowering them. She said that the dignity kits would go a long way to support these persons because many families are facing economic challenges as a result of the pandemic.
The items were made up of five hundred food-packs, two hundred hygiene kits for boys and five hundred hygiene kits for girls which included sanitary pads.
Ms. Adjoa Yenyi, the National Programme Analyst for Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health at UNFPA Ghana noted, “We realised that young people living with HIV turn to be marginalised in communities we work, hence the need for UNFPA to support them with basic needs to keep their dignity intact.” She added that based on research, it had been identified that food is one of the reasons young people living with HIV default in taking their medications, and so judging by the impact COVID is having on a lot of economies, it was ideal for young people to be supported and also be able to keep their dignity intact.
For the past 19 years, Hope for Future Generations has made it their core mandate to empower women, children and young people to reach their full potentials. The Executive Director therefore mentioned that the presentation came at an opportune time, as HFFG has recently launched and embarked on a menstrual hygiene promotion campaign for all girls across Ghana, as part of its 20th Anniversary celebration. The Menstrual Hygiene Intervention dubbed “Pads for Girls Everywhere” seeks to mobilise three million sanitary pads to support over one million girls from June 2020 to June 2021.
“HFFG believes Every Girl Deserves to Menstruate with Dignity. The ‘Pads for Girls Everywhere’ intervention seeks to break the societal silence and change the negative social myths, norms and beliefs around menstruation, and engage decision-makers, traditional leaders and opinion leaders to increase the political priority for Menstrual Hygiene at all levels,” said Ms. Senoo. She called on all individuals, institutions and organizations to partner HFFG in the “Pads for Girls Everywhere” intervention.
Attah – Effah Badu
