HomeNationalAdvocacy key to ending child marriages

Advocacy key to ending child marriages

PUBLISHED BY

Mchinji District Social Welfare Office has described advocacy for the rights of children as key in fighting teen marriages and pregnancies in the district.

The statement comes at a time children in the district continue to face various forms of abuse such as defilement and forced marriages.  

The District Social Welfare and Child Protection Officer, Precious Madengu, said children continue to face various forms of abuse due to lack of efforts to mobilise resources to deal with the vices in the district.

He was speaking at a recent advocacy training session for primary school learners organised by Girls Activist Youth Organization (GAYO) in Traditional Authority Kapondo in the district. 

 “This training will help learners to have the responsibility of fighting for their own rights, which will lessen our work as Social Welfare Office. 

“The children are focal points in this campaign since they are the ones that face the abuses, so, we need more of such trainings to annihilate child marriages and other forms of child abuse in the district,” said Madengu.

He has since commended GAYO for the initiative, stressing the need for more of such trainings if cases of child abuse are to end in the district. 

some of the learners who attended the training

According to GAYO Field Officer, Karen Seyani, the training focused on child-to-child monitoring, child journalism, child rights and how children can report any abuse that they face in their communities.

Seyani said after the training, the learners are expected to form child advocacy clubs in their respective schools.

“We are here to train learners from Rusa, Kalulu, Chafuta and Chankhanga primary schools on child advocacy.

“We want participants to trace and report various forms of abuse in their schools and help one another as children so that their lives are transformed by enjoying an abuse-free environment,” he said.

One of the training participants, 11-year old STD 5 learner from Kalulu Primary School, Pemphero Mtembe, said the training had helped her to be aware of her rights as a child and her responsibility to fight any form of abuse in her community.

“I have learnt a lot from this training. Now, I am able to know when I am being abused by my parents as well as teachers. At the same time, I know my right to education. Being a girl, it is a challenge in our community since we are forced to go into early marriages,” she said. 

The training drew together learners from Standards 4-6 who are expected to equip their fellow learners with the knowledge acquired during the training. 

Girls Activist Youth Organisation is implementing Rusa Community Engagement Sponsorship Programme, aimed at fighting teen marriages and pregnancies in Traditional Authority Kapondo in Mchinji District with support from World Vision Malawi.

Enter your comment

RELATED ARTICLES

Malawians call for ownership, responsibility in strengthening community health systems

President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera on Tuesday officially launched the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), Tipewe Cholera and Covid-19 Campaign, and the National Community Health Framework for 2023-2030, with a call to Malawians to take ownership and responsibility in strengthening their community health systems.

Amyryllis Hotel chases Attorney General Chakaka Nyirenda in preference to foreign guest

Concerned Malawians have condemned the management of the Blantyre-based Amyryllis Hotel for chasing Attorney General Thabo Chakaka Nyirenda out of the room he duly paid to accommodate guests from a certain North African country.

NTLEP scale up efforts to fight TB, leprosy in hard-to-reach areas

National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Elimination Programme (NTLEP) has scaled up efforts to fight Tuberculosis (TB) and Leprosy in hard-to-reach areas as one way of bringing the services close to the people. 

Mwanza learns from Mchinji District Council

Mwanza District Council has taken a page out of Mchinji District Council's playbook, learning about border entry fees for foreign vehicles entering Malawi through the Mchinji border in a bid to enhance revenue collection.

Latest Posts

popular posts

Mchinji’s agriculture committee emphasises on collaboration

Mchinji District Agriculture Extension Coordination Committee (DAECC) has stressed the need for strong relationships and collaboration among stakeholders to sustain agriculture initiatives being implemented in the district.

Woman drags Nankhumwa to court over child maintenance issues

A little known woman, Letina Kamwamba, has dragged Leader of Opposition and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential aspirant, Kondwani Nankhumwa, to court over child maintenance issues.

2024 Aviator Strategy and Tips to Win (TESTED AND VERIFIED)

With the recent surge of users on Premierbet Malawi Aviator; we keep seeing many Facebook and Twitter posts about whether there’s a strategy of some sort for the Aviator game. We haven’t seen any definite answers to this which pushed us to answer this, using a program that compiles the results and gives you an idea of different strategies and numbers to try on Aviator.

MCP publicist Reverend Maurice Munthali resigns

Publicity Secretary for the Malawi Congress Party (MCP) Reverend Maurice Munthali has resigned from his position, citing the prevailing governance atmosphere marred by persistent corruption allegations and related scandals as reasons for his resignation.

MK17.28bn Mzuzu Civic Office Complex construction at 45%

Plem Construction Limited (PCL) has disclosed that progress of the construction of the first ever Mzuzu Civic Office Complex is at 45 percent.
Nthanda Times

Discover more from Nthanda Times

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading