NBL plan to donate sanitary pads to 1,000 Ugandan pupils annually

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Employees of Uganda’s leading beer brewer Nile Breweries Limited, plans to donate pads to at least 1,000 pupils annually, according to the company’s legal and corporate affairs director, Onapito Ekomoloit.

Onapito, who was speaking during the handover of 300 pieces of So Sure reusable to Murchison Bay Primary School in Luzira, a Kampala suburb this week, said the company’s interests is to ensure that pupils stay in school all times.

“We as NBL are interested in ensuring that pupils remains in school during menstruation period. Our hope is provide at least 1,000 pupils with sanitary pads as we keep on increasing in the subsequent years,” he said.

He said the sanitary support is to ensure that girls have a fair chance to play in life, as they develop into responsible citizens through education.

This comes as the NBL marks seven years of providing 72 scholarship packages for secondary school education, through its Equity Scholarship programme, worth Shs 2bn.

The company also provides scholarships at St. Mary’s College Lugazi to orphans of the 2010 World Cup terrorist twin bombings in Kampala.

A UNESCO study on menstrual management in 2015 reveals that Uganda has the highest dropout rate in East Africa with up to 75% of the pupils dropping out, most of which are girls.

Similarly, a study conducted by the United Nations in 2014, reveals that one out of 10 African school girls skills school or drops out of school entirely due to lack of menstrual products and poor access to proper sanitation.

Abdul Mugisa, the headmaster of Murchison Bay Primary School said the provision of reusable sanitary pads will address pupil absenteeism and proper disposal of used pads.

Nakawa Division Mayor, Ronald Balimwezo Nsubuga said: “We are happy with the gesture of NBL employees and we shall see how to implement it.”