Girls in Nsanje have encouraged fellow young girls in Traditional Authority (T/A) Mbenje in the district to use contraceptives to prevent unplanned pregnancies and contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
They said this on Sunday when Kachere Progressive Women’s Group took sexual and reproductive health messages to girls in T/A Mbenje in the district.
During the awareness, the girls also discouraged their peers from using unsafe methods to abort pregnancies. Instead, they urged the girls to abstain from sexual activities or use contraceptives such as condoms to prevent early pregnancies.
One of the speakers, Happiness Jack, 26, from Kaleso Village said Kachere Progressive Women’s Group, empowered girls to visit remote areas in the district with sexual and reproductive messages.
She said: “We discuss the importance of accessing contraceptives. We commend Kalemba Rural Health Centre
for providing contraceptives to young people.“I ask them to use the contraceptives to prevent pregnancies.”
Another girl, Elubby George from Nyamjidu, said they decided to open up to girls on the importance of accessing
sexual and reproductive health services. “We need to discuss sexual and reproductive health services openly to prevent unsafe abortions,” she said.
On her part, Khadja Suleman from Kaleso Village, asked parliamentarians to pass the Termination of Pregnancy Bill to allow girls and women to access safe abortion.
Kachere Progressive Women’s Group programmes manager Fyness Chiwanda said they were pleased to learn that girls are demanding sexual and reproductive health services.
“We are pleased that village heads, development structures and others are lobbying legislators to pass the Termination of Pregnancy Bill in Parliament,” she said.
Kachere Progressive Women’s Group is implementing a sexual and reproductive health project in the district with support from Amplify Change
