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{
"id": 34574,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/34574/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mrs. Mugo",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Public Health and Sanitation",
"speaker": {
"id": 85,
"legal_name": "Beth Wambui Mugo",
"slug": "beth-mugo"
},
"content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to commend Eng. Gumbo for this Motion which is very timely. Indeed, the Government has already led the way. The Prime Minister announced that the Government was going to facilitate the supply of sanitary towels to the needy girls. Indeed, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance made allocation for this need. Therefore, it is something that the Government supports. I would also like to commend the fact that it is a man who has brought this Motion and not a woman. That shows that men have realized that women issues are national issues. Girl issues are societal issues because they are our daughters together with the men. They are the fathers. When girls miss education, it is something to worry about because they cannot keep the standards as well as the boys. Indeed, way back when I was an Assistant Minister in the Ministry of Education, we started this programme. There was a package we called School Health Programme. Part of it involved sanitary towels. Several banks and organizations did support the programme. Therefore, I would support this Motion very strongly but with amendments. I hope the mover will be willing to accommodate some amendments. One of these is that while the Government takes the major responsibility, all other agencies and private sector have a responsibility as part of their social responsibility to support this programme. If the Government did it alone, we will find that even the finances will be constrained because we have many girls. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, another amendment I would like to suggest is that instead of saying: “Coordinate sources and receive funds for and sustain nationwide programme to distribute sanitary towels to all school going girls in primary and secondary schools in the country”, I want to suggest that not all of them need free sanitary towels. There are those who can afford them and we need not put unnecessary burden on the taxpayer for parents who are able and have been doing it. We should add the words either “the needy” or “where need be”. The programme can be piloted in a way that it focuses on the needy girls. I want to add here - and it is a fact - that it has been found out that girls do stay out of school, especially during those critical two or three days. Missing school for two or three days every month takes a lot from that girl. I think girls have tried very hard to perform well in school Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, another need is not just the sanitary towels. We must make sure that all the schools have adequate toilets for girls. According to the regulations, the girls’ toilets are supposed to be always more than the boys’. That is something I would like to urge my colleague, the Minister for Education, and the Constituencies Development Fund (CDF) to facilitate. We should support our schools to make sure that, in our constituencies, if there is any school that needs support for girls’ facilities to be clean and, if possible, to have water facilities, then we make a provision for that. There are many ways, of course, which we can explore to encourage our girls to perform well in school, and that is one major area. We need to educate our boys. They should also understand that, that is a natural process. They should not, sort of, make girls feel embarrassed about it. If there is an accident and the girl’s dress is soiled or something like that, we should understand. That is why we must make sure that all girls have sanitary toilets, so that those accidents do not happen. You will find many girls who stay out of school because they are afraid that something like that can happen. That is a natural process. It is a process that these girls undergo. We must support our girls when they are going through it and make sure that their grades improve. With those few remarks, I beg to support with amendments."
}