NGOs urge girls to fight for their rights
Girls from Traditional Authority Mkanda in Mulanje District have been urged to fight for their rights to become empowered by 2030.
Advancing Girls Education (AGE) Africa Country Director, Gertrude Kabwazi, said this on Sunday during the commemoration of the International Day of the Girl Child at Milonga Community Day Secondary School in Mulanje.
AGE and Plan International (Malawi) organised the event, which focused on addressing challenges girls face in communities, was held under the theme ‘The power of the adolescent girl, vision for 2030’.
She said there is need to help the girl child advance in education.
Kabwazi also said girls face a number of challenges within communities, which include never-ending household chores and abuse by step fathers or male relations.
“Today, we are calling for safe spaces for girl child empowerment. If there is gender-based violence in a community or family, the girl child will not be empowered.
“What we would like to see is for a girl child to be able to fight for her rights to education and be able to take leading roles in communities and even at top government level by 2030,” said Kabwazi.
Plan Malawi Programmes and Sponsorship Coordinator for Mulanje, Jane Mweziwina, said there has been insufficient investment in addressing the challenges girls face when they enter the second decade of their lives.
She said as the global community launches the Sustainable Development Goals for implementation over the next 15 years, there is need to support the current and upcoming generation of adolescent girls.
Mweziwina said girls need to be protected so that they truly fulfill their potential as key actors in achieving a sustainable and equitable world
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