myacadaxtra: 100 Girls, 50 Boys Benefit from PadMan Initiative ‘5 in 1 Event’ hosted by Tracka and headlined by Seun Kuti.

Tracka was established to address the critical issues with social and economic development in Nigeria, which is lack of the people inclusion in developmental projects, increasing number of abandoned projects and poor execution of the few projects implemented and now they are adding their voice to the works of Pad Man Initiative

Tracka.ng is BudgIT’s (www.yourbudgit.com) intervention vehicle for driving-transparency-citizen-engagement-and-accountability.

Pad Man Initiative on Thursday, 8th of June 2017 hosted by Tracka celebrated a ‘5in1 Event’ by commemorating; Menstrual Hygiene Day (May28), World Environment Day ( June 5), UN’s Barbershop Conference, Side Event of the European Development Day and Lagos at 50 creating a new advocacy drive for Eco-Friendly Menstrual Hygiene Kit in its flagship programme for investment in School Girls and empowering the school boys using the tools for barbershop conference “Act Like a Man- Act Like a Woman”. Chaste Inegbedion, Chief Responsibility Officer of Giving Garage and Convener of Pad Man, commented: “The goal of the initiative is to Is to empower 232,000 schoolgirls within public schools within the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria by 2020 through provision of Eco-friendly reusable pads and capacity building on menstrual hygiene management and reproductive health for improved performance and self-esteem. With this announcement, we are engaging the media, private sector, International Agencies and the Digital ecosystem, which is like everywhere else and maybe even more than elsewhere carries with it a development challenge most especially our participation at Merit 360 (www.merit360.org) in the United Kingdom.”

A Dedicated team from Plethora Works, The Girls Show, Sanitary Aid for Nigerian Girls, Global Shapers, Mandela Washington Fellowship, One Smile Foundation and National Youth Service Corps Sanitation CDs facilitated the session with the Students moderated by Akinlaja Oludare of Yadaversity.

“We can’t leave out the men and the boys. They are a big part of the problem. If there is violence, most likely there is a man around.

We always shout about the drought of leadership but quality education is that bridge to building quality leaders.

“The Barbershop event is a response to an invitation to men to join in the gender equality conversation hoping it will build on the HeForShe campaign in Nigeria which has so far encouraged 204,978 men to pledge their support to the cause globally and we are glad to have led the session with Male Corps from the Sanitation CDS from Ikoyi/Obalende LG venue for the event where three schools was represented Girls Senior Secondary Grammar School, Ireti Boys and Aunty Ayo”- Akinboye Akinpelumi President, NYSC Sanitation CDS

Seun Kuti, Youngest Son of Legendary Afro Beat Originator, Fela Anikulapo Kuti said he was pleased to see men “stepping up their efforts to address their role in gender equality”. But, he added: “I ask the School boys at the Barbershop conference to think about what they can do to help resource the hands that do the heavy lifting when it comes to gender equality. Women’s hands, that is.”

He shared on the importance of focusing on Education and why they should concentrate in class. He shared on how he was very focus on his education as a teenager.

The event attracted criticism when it was first mooted with the idea for Eco-Friendly Pads. Many believe that the washable pads are not hygienic and that Men in Menstruation Matters would do little to change the status quo.

“A lot can be said in favor of creating spaces where a group of people who share similar problems can meet, feel at ease, and safely talk about what affects them. This reflects the themes for this year World Menstrual Hygiene Day is on Education for Menstruation Changes Everything and World Environment Day is Connecting to Nature which gave birth to the hashtag of the event #Pad4Nature to equip them with Eco-friendly reusable pads made from high-performance materials and provide effective protection for more than 12 months of use.”- Pastor Sharon Ajide (2013 FALA STAR PRIZE WINNER) she is also collaborating with the Pad Man to provide 1000 sanitary towel to teenage girls in Makoko Community

Though the 50-day celebration ended on May 27, the organizer also commemorated the celebration of the State’s Golden Jubilee which would continue throughout the year with series of festivals and events as a side event of the European Development Days #EDD17 which held on the same day with the Hour of Hygiene of Pad Man at Brussels was moderated by Lagos Global Shaper, Toluwase Olaniyan and Akinlaja Oludare President Yadaversity calling on the Governor of Lagos to invest in proper curriculum development and in the welfare of quality teachers as the theme of EDD17 was Investment in Development.

Ayokunmi Ogunnaiya said, “We are delighted by the turnout and the support of so many leading institutions and individuals who have embraced our vision to empower School Girls regarding their Menstrual Hygiene and School Boys on Gender Equality. We will certainly be making this a premium event as we have already seen the incredible value it presents.”

We are indeed grateful to Vincent Abiola Fowler, Seun Onigbinde, Rosy Edward, Folake Ajayi ,Hamzat Lawal and Uche Pedro.

PadMan is an initiative of the Giving Garage aimed at getting men to be deliberately involved in issues of humanity especially issues bordering gender equality.

Giving Garage’s PadMan initiative, is adopting the United Nations’ #HeForShe model to encourage men to act in advocating and funding of girl/women causes.

PadMan promotes loudly and unashamedly the role of good Menstrual Hygiene Management in Secondary schools as a trigger for better, stronger development of schoolgirls

The event was covered by Silverbird TV, Boss Newspaper, Bella Naija, Naija PR and ABS Lenses.