Female volunteer offers sanitary pads to returnee women and girls stranded at Palouch Airport/courtesy photo

A group of women has distributed more than 800 packages of sanitary pads for female returnees and refugees fleeing the conflict in Sudan.

There are thousands of returnees and refugees who fled the war in Sudan stranded in Paloch in Upper Nile state and need humanitarian assistance.

The sanitary pads were delivered to women and girls stranded at Palouch Airport in Melut County of Upper Nile state.

Abut Moses, the leader of the women’s initiative describes the situation of women and girls as tragic.

“When we fled from the war in Sudan we had a large number of women and girls, and we did not know that we would face the problem of sanitary pads because we did not consider when we were escaping from the war,” said Abut Moses.

“I thought about the initiative after I noticed that women use their children’s cloth as sanitary napkins, and throw them away after use because there is no water or soap to wash them,

“There is also a lack of privacy for women and girls at the airport area, so getting a place to change is difficult.”

For her part, one of the campaign organizers, Nyanok Major says she received positive feedback from the beneficiaries.

“One spoke about the feeling of the beneficiaries of the sanitary napkin service, and she said I am for the girls. She said when I handed her the sanitary napkin package, she says I got my lost son back,”  said Manor.

“I would like to thank the contributors to this noble service, and we are living in difficult circumstances. Thank you for thinking of our problems and concerns. I find nothing to say but thank you,” said one of the beneficiaries.