Young people with disabilities have expressed satisfaction with advocacy skills they acquired under Hivos-funded initiatives for empowering them to lobby for the promotion of their rights.
They said this on Tuesday in Lilongwe during a meeting with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) running reproductive health interventions with funding from Hivos on the need to continue fighting for the rights of people with disabilities.
One of the beneficiaries, Mphatso Phiri from Kaliyeka I in Lilongwe hailed Hivos for empowering her with advocacy skills as a peer educator.
“With or without donor support, I will encourage my fellow youths with disabilities to access reproductive health services and ensure they speak out when their rights are violated,” she said.
Phiri’s sentiments came after Hivos, an international development organisation, urged its partners in the country to sustain the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) services beyond donor funding.
Hivos Malawi SRHR impact and learning forum, regional (Southern Africa) fund programme manager Limpo Chinika said Hivos will pull out of the country in December.
“We are closing out and the essence is that we want to build a cadre of young people that can speak out on their own on issues that affect their sexual and reproductive health and rights,” she said.
Chinika described the Hivos SRHR journey in the country as bittersweet.
She said: “We did not only provide grants but also capacity building to these youth-led organisations who are often not supported by other organisations since they do not have proper governance systems in place or a functioning board.
“So, we came in to bridge the gap for these organisations not only here in Malawi but also in Zambia, Zimbabwe Kenya and Uganda.”
Human Rights of Women and Girls with Disabilities executive director Stella Nkhonya commended Hivos for its timely intervention.
“They came at a right time when young people with disabilities were discriminated in accessing SRHR services,” she said.
