- The Nairobi Woman Rep also advised families to support the government by trying to fill the gaps that exist in the distribution of sanitary products by providing them for their children.
- This is a provision under the Basic Education Amendment Act of 2017.
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Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris now says that it is the moral responsibility of parents to provide sanitary towels to their children.
"The government is doing its part but I feel that the responsibility has to be for mothers as well," Passaris said.
She advised mothers to ensure that they provide sanitary products to their girls in case the government is not able to.
"As a government, we do have the mandate through law to provide sanitary towels, but I want every family to make sure that they can prioritise providing their girls with sanitary towels," she said.
The legislator noted that sometimes the sanitary towels provided by the government do not reach all girls since the law only mandates that they are distributed to public schools.
She attributed the 'gaps' in the distribution of sanitary products to budget constraints and delays in procurement.
Passaris said that families need to find other means to provide sanitary products for their children.
"Families, together with well-wishers in the community have been providing sanitary towels but we know that there is still a gap. Mothers have to prioritise making sure that there are sanitary towels, whether you get it from the community, schools or you buy it yourself," she explained.
The Nairobi Woman Rep also advised families to support the government by trying to fill the gaps that exist in the distribution of sanitary products by providing them for their children.
"When you have a daughter, it should be part of your shopping, because you cannot let your girl go to school without a sanitary towel," she said.
She, however, explained that Parliament has already approved the budget for the procurement of sanitary towels and the Ministry of Gender will soon direct the Women Representative's Office to distribute them.
This is a provision under the Basic Education Amendment Act of 2017 which states that the government through the Ministry of Gender, should 'provide free, sufficient and quality sanitary towels to every girl child registered and enrolled in a public basic education institution who has reached puberty and provide a safe and environmentally sound mechanism for disposal of the sanitary towels'.