Women’s Caucus takes gender laws to communities
Parliamentary Women’s Caucus (PWC) has said the Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations Act should be simplified and popularised among the public to have an impact.
Speaking on Monday at Nsamala Court, Patricia Shanil Dzimbiri, who is Balaka West legislator and a member of the Caucus, said sensitising the community, duty-bearers and traditional leaders would fast-track dissemination and understanding of the newly-enacted law.
She said: “The concern from the constituents has been that when a law has been passed in Parliament, there is no platform to sensitise and disseminate the same to communities and we would like to take this piece of legislation to the masses.”
Balaka District Council human resources manager Darlington Kawawa said popularising the unified law related to marriage, divorce and maintenance needs to be a continuous process whereby different stakeholders engage communities to enable them grasp the crucial messages in the Act.
“The Act is changing the current scenario whereby different forms of marriages carry different sets of rights and obligations guaranteeing similar rights and obligations of parties to any marriage which the villagers need to understand,” Kawawa said.
Wilsa is implementing a UN Women funded ‘Dissemination of Gender Related Laws’ project in partnership with PWC in all 32 women constituencies across the country.
