Lilongwe City Mayor Esther Sagawa has called for female role models to inspire girls to realise their dreams.
She said this in Lilongwe on Friday during the commemoration of the International Day of the Girl Child that Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Malawi organised under the theme ‘Empowering girls: Breaking barriers and building a sustainable future’.
Said Sagawa: “Girls need more support from leaders and role models to succeed in their education.
“When you have a role model, you have direction and someone to look up to.”
The mayor acknowledged the challenges girls face and called on various stakeholders to join hands in ensuring that girls have the resources they need to excel in life.
On her part, AHF Malawi country programme manager Triza Hara said the event, which saw 30 girls from Lilongwe, Ntcheu and Chikwawa taken through a tour of Parliament and participate in panel discussion, sought to inspire the girls to recognise their potential.
She said: “The goal was for the girls to learn from the experiences of women in different professions to overcome the challenges they face, such as limited access to education, poverty and cultural pressures.”
One of the participants, Eunice Salomba from Biwi Township in Lilongwe, said the mayor and women holding influential positions in Parliament inspired her to work hard in school.
“Interacting with women in power encourages us to pursue leadership roles and make a difference in our communities,” she said.
Salomba also highlighted some of the challenges girls face in accessing education such as high cost of sanitary products and lack of proper facilities in schools.
AHF Malawi hosted the adolescent girls and young women in Parliament as part of efforts to empower the girls.
