By Tione Andsen, MANA
Oxfam Malawi has been commended for being instrumental in uplifting the lives of women in society including members of Women Caucus of Parliament.
Member of Parliament (MP) for Lilongwe South West, Jean Sendeza said this Saturday during the commemoration of international Women’s Day organized by Oxfam at Likuni ground in Lilongwe.
She said efforts being made by Oxfam could not be overlooked taking into account the way they are helping Women MPs in their constituencies.
“We are grateful to Oxfam for honouring their pledge to help us women parliamentarians in our constituencies so that we should develop them for the better,” Sendeza said.
She said Oxfam’s project of Ending Gender Based Violence Against Women and Girls has help the communities to realize that they were infringing the rights of both women and girls.
The MP pointed out that communities should change their mindset on the issue of girl’s education saying more girls need to access education if the country s to develop further.
“Girl child should not be rushed into early marriages but should be encouraged to go to school. Getting married before age is contributing to health complications among girls including issues of fistula which is common mainly among girls before reaching the age of 18,” Sendeza noted.
She commended Oxfam with their partners Network for Youth Development (NfYD) and Family Planning Association of Malawi (FPHAM) for organizing the event this year.
Deputy Country Director of Oxfam Malawi, Elias Khozombwe said Oxfam believes in promoting women and girls in order for them to participate fully in national development.
He said women need to be encouraged to take up leadership positions in all levels of society including in politics.
“We can only attain these goals if more women are willing to should their ability to lead others and they are ready to compete with men in all fields. Women need to be empowered and men should help them achieve their aspirations,” Khozombwe stated.
He said Oxfam has being implementing Ending Violence against Women and Girls (EVAWG) campaign since 2017 with aim sensitizing various communities the dangers of the malpractice.
NfYD Programmes Manager, Lidace Singini Nyirenda said children’s rights particularly girls need to always protected in our communities.
She urged Traditional leaders to develop by-laws that would encourage children to go to school and reduce cases of drop out in schools.
“We need to join hand to fight social ills among us such as teen pregnancies, early marriages and GBV against women. We cannot achieve gender equity if these issues are still in our communities,” Nyirenda pointed out.
Lilongwe District Council, Senior Assistant Social Welfare Officer, Kettie Kaponda appealed to the communities to report issues of GBV in order to help in the fight against the vice.
She noted tha the fight against GBV should include the involvement of men so that achievement of zero violence case should be attained.
The event was spiced by performance of Music Crossroads, Malili Youth Club drama, poems, recital and speeches by pupils of Likuni Primary School.
