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Make sanitary products affordable for all – CSO platform on SDGs urges government
The Ghana CSOs Platform on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has appealed to the government to help make sanitary products affordable to all women and girls.
Sanitary products currently attract 32.5 per cent tax on imported sanitary pads, which is made up of 20 per cent import duty and 12.5 per cent Value Added Tax.
A statement signed by Ms. Levlyn Konadu Levlyn, National Coordinator of the Platform urged the Ministry of Finance and the government to “as a matter of urgency scrap the import tax on sanitary pads and reclassify the product as ‘essential social goods’ which is Zero rated.”
The Platform again urged African countries such as Kenya, Rwanda, and South Africa to remove taxes on the same products.
The statement was issued in commemoration of this year’s Menstrual Hygiene Day themed: “Making menstruation a normal fact of life by 2030.”
“Women’s and adolescent girls’ ability to care for their bodies while menstruating is, an essential part of this fundamental human right. Poor menstrual health and hygiene therefore, represent an affront to this right, including the right to work and go to school,” the Platform noted.
It maintained that insufficient resources to manage menstruation, such as sanitary pads and clean water, worsened the already existing social and economic inequalities and undermines the dignity and confidence of girls and women”.
The Platform, therefore, called for comprehensive effort aimed at making sanitary products affordable and intensifying public education on menstruation.
While calling for policies that eliminate “period poverty,” the organisation again urged the media to continue encouraging open dialogue on menstruation and help break the stigma.
The Ghana CSOs Platform on the SDGs aims is to contribute to “building a fairer, healthier, gender-responsive Ghana that acknowledges and works towards achieving the vision for sanitation and hygiene under Goal 6 of the Sustainable Development Goals.”
By Spectator Reporter
News
Ghana-Colombia strengthens ties through diplomatic engagement
In an important diplomatic engagement, the Colombian Ambassador to Ghana H.E. Daniel Garces Carabali paid a courtesy call on the Minister for the Interior, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, at his office in Accra to discuss some key areas of collaboration.
The meeting focused on pressing issues, including security, decongestion of Ghana’s prisons, prison reform programmes, training programmes, improving the welfare of prisoners and enhancing disaster management in the country.
The courtesy call underscores the growing bilateral ties between Ghana and Colombia, building on previous engagements, such as the visit of the Colombian Vice President to Ghana in 2023.
The meeting demonstrates the commitment of both nations to fostering cooperation and addressing shared challenges.
News
Ghana to host African Catholic Journalists from August 10
The Union Catholique Africaine de la Presse (UCAP), also known as the African Catholic Union of the Press, in collaboration with the Catholic Association of Media Practitioners-Ghana (CAMP-G), is set to host its prestigious Triennial Congress from August 10 to 17 August, 2025.
The programme would be held at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Legon, Accra, Ghana.
This landmark event, the most significant gathering of Catholic journalists in Africa, will bring together media professionals, researchers, and experts in digital technology from across the continent and beyond.
The theme for the Congress is: “Balancing Technological Progress and the Preservation of Human Values in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.”
Congress Highlights
The UCAP Congress 2025 will feature discussions and deliberations on critical issues arising from or related to integral human development, particularly within the framework of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Some of the key sub-themes to be addressed include:Corporate Social Responsibility in Managing the Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Human Values, Deploying AI in Eco-friendly Business Start-ups in Africa: Opportunities and Challenges, Technology and the Reprogramming of Social Reality, Distortion of Reality in Social and Digital Media, Ecological Education and Action Against Unsustainable Exploitation of Natural Resources, and Media and the Promotion of the Recommendations of the Synod on Synodality in Africa.
Participants will include media professionals from both ecclesiastical and lay organisations, media researchers and academics, representatives from the Vatican, government agencies, NGOs, civil society, and the digital technology sector.
Objectives of the Congress
The primary goal of this Congress is to strengthen the capacities of media professionals and educate the public on the necessity of preserving human values amid rapid technological progress. Specific objectives include; Training 100 media practitioners in Artificial Intelligence and emerging technologies, with a focus on balancing innovation and human values.
This will include promoting ethics and bioethics in technical research and technological innovations through media.
Advocating for human values such as respect for life, human dignity, charity, solidarity, and human rights and assessing the impact of technological progress to better understand the challenges, risks, and opportunities presented by AI will be part of the objectives.
UCAP is a continental organisation dedicated to promoting communication within the Catholic Church and its partners in Africa. With a mission to foster spiritual growth, collaboration, and responsible journalism, UCAP works to spread the Gospel, uphold human values, and support developmental initiatives across Africa and beyond.
UCAP is an independent, autonomous, non-political, and non-profit organisation comprising African Catholic journalists, communicators, academics, researchers, and institutions in various media fields.
