Uganda Civil Aviation (UCAA) has announced a partnership with the Uganda Aeronautical Information Service Officers’ Association ( UGAISOA) to organise this year’s Aviation Run scheduled for October 20, 2024.
The event will take place at Entebbe Mayor’s Gardens. According to UCAA Spokesperson, Mr Vianney Luggya, it will kick off at exactly 6:30 am.
The Aviation Run is one of the events organized by the Authority to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), under the theme ‘Safe Skies. Sustainable Future.’
Proceeds from the run will go towards empowering girls in Namayingo and Budondo (Jinja District) by providing access to menstrual health education and materials for sanitary protection.
Luggya has appealed to the public to turn up in big numbers to celebrate Uganda’s Aviation Industry’s rapid development as the World marks 80 years of ICAO and also participate in sending hope to the cause of reaching out to the young girls in Namayingo and Jinja.
Limited access to menstrual education and materials for sanitary protection has been a major hindrance to education in Uganda, with media reports often highlighting the plight in Busoga.
Failure to access sanitary pads by most school-going girls has been severally blamed for the increased number of school dropout in Busoga.
Mariam Nabirye Mwesigwa, the CEO of Mwesigwa Foundation, a non-profit organisation in Luuka, while giving out free sanitary pads to girls and vulnerable mothers at Budhabangula Church of Uganda (COU) in Luuka district last year revealed that most of the girls had dropped out of school due to failure to get sanitary pads which is a necessity.
Mwesigwa added that seven out of 10 girls miss classes for a period between 10 to 16 days in a term, something that affects their performance. It also makes their morale to stay in school deteriorate, leading them to drop out of school, which may result in early marriages and unwanted pregnancies.
“Most girls end into early marriages due to poor performances in classes because they miss a number of lessons where they are sometimes subjected to beating by teachers that would deter a girl child from continuing with Education,” she further noted.
Many females in rural areas have been reported to have resorted to using old mattress materials and all sorts of non-recommended materials as pads, resulting in bacterial infections.
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