Six districts to benefit from FAWEMA young girl rights project

In an effort to improve girls participation and access to education in the country, Save the Children through the Forum for African Women Educationalists in Malawi (FAWEMA) has rolled out a Reduction Teenage Pregnancies in Malawi Project is six districts.

The project is also aimed at increasing girls’ access to quality sexual and reproductive healthy information and services and reduce adolescent sexual and reproductive healthy challenges among school going girls.

“The project seeks to reduce teen age pregnancies and improve involvement of a girl child higher education.

“We don’t want girls to be disturbed; they should be allowed to attain higher education just like any other person. We be also talking to parents and guardians not marry off young girls at the expense of their education,” said FAWEMA Project Officer, Thokozani Mpando Phiri.

At the moment FAWEMA is training teachers from some schools in the targeted districts of Balaka, Mchinji, Phalombe, Machinga, Mangochi and Ntcheu so that they should help in protecting the rights of a girl child.

One of the targeted areas in Phalombe is Nambiro Primary School Zone. Out of 17098 pupils in the area, 9065 are girls.

According to Nambiro Zone Primary Education Advisor Agnes Mgawa many
young girls drop out of school due to poverty that drag them in early marriages.

“School dropouts are rampant in this area as most people live in an extreme poverty life and this makes some parents to even fail to provide their children with basic school needs like books and school uniforms, among others.

“Some parents do not take time to encourage and motivate their children, mainly because of their illiterate status,” said Mgawa.
She therefore applauded Save the Children and FAWEMA for rolling out the project in the districts in question, saying more girls will remain in school as they will now be encouraged and motivated by various activities and programmes being carried the in districts.

FAWEMA is a registered non-governmental organization which brings together women educationalists in order to support and promote girls and women’s education in Malawi.

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