Africa-Press – Tanzania. KIBITI District Commissioner, Zacharia Mninguya, has called on the community to provide basic needs to their children regardless of gender. He also told the members of community to take responsibility of protecting and giving equal rights to the girlchild so that they can fulfill their dreams.
Mninguya made the remarks recently at the culmination of the World Girl Child Day celebrations, where the National Council of People Living with HIV in Tanzania (NACOPHA) donated sanitary pads to Zimbwini Secondary School students in Kibiti coastal district. However, he noted that still there were some communities and tribes that discriminated against children.
“All children have the right to education, to participate in social activities and to express their views,” said Mninguya, adding that there has been a tendency of giving priority to boys more than girls.
He said government policy emphasizes on 50/50 ratio between men and women, noting that the ratio has to be seen in education. He urged motorcyclists (boda boda riders) and other men to stop deceiving school girls, saying such act makes girl children fall into trap of getting pregnancy and thus they fail to fulfill their dreams.
When handing over 20 boxes of sanitary pads schildren, NACOPHA Dar es salaam Regional Manager, Victoria Humburya, said the aim of the donation was to enable the girl-child achieve their dreams by attending classes all the time and do other school activities.
Sponsored by the UNAIDS, the sanitary pads will be distributed to more than 500 girls who are unable to afford them during the menstrual periods.
The school’s headmaster, Estomic Kimwemwe, thanked NACOPHA for their support, noting that the donation will be very useful since it has been a major challenge for many girls, who fail to use them because of their costs.
