Govt for youth empowerment
Government and the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) say they will continue working together to empower girls, especially those who have dropped out of school by offering them a second chance to get educated.
The sentiments were made on Saturday by Secretary for Labour, Youth, Sports and Manpower Development Lucky Sikwese and Unicef chief of basic education Charles Nabongo when government received five utility vehicles donated by Unicef in Lilongwe.
“As government, we are excited with this donation because we are currently coordinating functional literacy activities for out-of-school adolescent girls,” said the PS.
According to Sikwese, the functional literacy programme is one of the key areas in the National Youth Policy and strategic plan as it offers alternative paths or second chances to learning apart from the formal education system.
On his part Nabongo said it is critical to look at the affairs of adolescents because at such an age they like to experiment on anything, including sex.
“These days we have a lot of teenage pregnancies because this is a critical time in the growth of an individual. It is important that young people should read and write because they make informed decisions,” he said.
The donation, which is worth about $100 000, has been provided through the joint programme on girls’ education being funded by the Norwegian government and is being implemented in Salima and Dedza under the Overall Framework of Action for Adolescent and Youth (A4A and Y).
