NGO-Gender Coordination Network (NGO-GCN) has distributed school items to 200 girls from Tiyendepamodzi and Mtakataka community day secondary schools (CDSSs) in Traditional Authority (T/A) Kachindamoto in Dedza District to motivate them to continue with their education.
The support is part of the organisation’s two-year Elevate Her Future Project running in T/A Kachindamoto in the district with support from the Government of Norway through UN Women Malawi.
The organisation distributed three bicycles to students who travel long distances to school and another bicycle to a girl with disability, besides other items such as uniforms, sanitary pads, scientific calculators,
notebooks, pens, plastic buckets and mathematical sets to all 200 girls.
NGO-GCN chairperson Maggie Kathewera Banda, speaking after the handover on Thursday, encouraged the girls not to rush into marriages.
“We encourage you to remain in school because sometimes girls are pressured to go into early marriages, but we are telling you that marriage can wait,” she said.
On his part, Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare deputy director of gender Ronald Phiri said 38 percent of girls in the country get married before the age of 18; hence, the need for partners run interventions to reverse the trend.
“These are the girls who drop out of school and they are at risk of gender-based violence,” he said.
Phiri, therefore, thanked NGO-GCN for its commitment to complementing government’s efforts in ending child marriages.
T/A Kachindamoto reaffirmed his commitment to end child marriages and encourage girls to continue with their education.
One of the students, Grace Banda, from Tiyendepamodzi CDSS said the support will motivate her to continue with their education.
“Girls lack many resources to help them continue with their education. The items we have received will play a crucial role in our pursuit for education,” she said.
The organisation spent K18.5 million for the items
