International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) has partnered with an NGO, Inspire Today, to mark this year’s International Day of the Girl Child with one thousand girls in Assin Fosu in the Central Region.
The partnership got the two NGOs to supply school girls, largely in cocoa-growing communities in Assin Fosu, with a three-month supply of menstrual pads, deodorants, bathing and washing soap, shaving sticks, underpants, and educational materials.
ICI’s vision is to create thriving cocoa-growing communities within a dignified, sustainable, and responsibly managed cocoa supply chain where child rights and human rights are protected and respected and where child labour and forced labour have been eliminated.
Girls of school-going age in all 12 beneficiary communities received their portion of the items donated.
According to the Country Director of ICI, Mike Arthur, the partnership to mark International Day of the Girl Child in the Central Region aligns with ICI’s commitment to addressing the challenges faced by children, especially girls, in cocoa-growing communities and the need to create an enabling environment for the girls to stay in school.
“ÍCI is passionate about ensuring children remain in school, and as we mark the international day of the girl child, we are aware of the many challenges of the girl child, and one of them is lack of access to sanitary pads and personal hygiene items, and we are glad to be supporting these girls who are within our reach communities to encourage school enrolment”.
Executive Director of Inspire Today, Madam Etornam Sey, expressed satisfaction at the impact of the partnership with ICI to reach out to these vulnerable girls, explaining that no girl should be held back in life just because they menstruate or live in a certain geographical location.
“The theme for the 2024 edition of the International Day of the Girl Child is ‘Girls’ vision for the future’, and it conveys both the need for urgent action and persistent hope driven by the power of girls’ voices and vision for the future.
We must continue to foster greater partnerships to support the girl child in every way, and providing them with sanitary pads and basic menstrual hygiene items, including educational materials, is a great place to begin.”
International Day of the Girl Child is observed annually on 11th October as a key global moment on which to celebrate girls everywhere, amplifying their voice, actions, and leadership.
Being a girl should not determine what you can do, where you can go or who you can become. But right now, that is the reality for millions of girls across the world. Too many are being left behind, confronted by extreme challenges that deny girls their rights, restrict their choices and limit their future.
The partnership between ICI and Inspire Today is aimed at addressing some of these many challenges of the girl child and ensuring they have equal access to education especially.
Urgent action is needed to drive progress with and for girls. Actively investing g in girls’ futures is to invest in our futures. Together, we can build a future in which every girl’s rights are protected. When girls achieve their goals, we all move closer to achieving our Global Goals, the two NGOs said.
