By Nelson Gonjani:
Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare, Mary Navicha, says financial constraints are hampering efforts to address child protection issues, including child marriages and teenage pregnancies.
Navicha made the remarks in Kasungu on Wednesday during the commemoration of the International Day of the Girl Child.
“We have insufficient funds and inadequate resources for our officers operating at district level, which is affecting efforts to address child protection issues,” she said.
Navicha called on development partners and other stakeholders to support government efforts to keep girls in school and prevent child marriages.
She expressed concern that 38 percent of girls across the country drop out of school due to teenage pregnancies and child marriages.
“In line with this year’s theme, ‘Ending Child Marriages Is Everyone’s Responsibility’, we are calling on traditional leaders and parents to work together to reduce the current rate of girls dropping out of school due to teenage pregnancies and child marriages to zero,” she said.
Frank Mwale, representing five community-based organisations implementing projects to end child marriages with funding from the Firelight Foundation, pledged to work with the government to address the problem.
“We are already implementing such projects in five districts across the country. We will continue investing our resources, with support from our donors, to ensure that girls are protected,” he said.
Mwale said poverty contributed to child marriages and teenage pregnancies. He added that the organisations were providing educational support and promoting livelihood activities to help parents care for their children.
“Many families are failing to provide for their children, resulting in school dropouts, which eventually lead to child marriages,” he said.
Senior Chief Lukwa of Kasungu assured stakeholders that traditional leaders would work with the government to encourage communities to keep girls in school.
National data show that 32 percent of girls aged 15 to 19 have experienced pregnancy, while about 39 percent of women aged 20 to 24 were married before the age of 18.