In a world that continues to grapple with gender inequalities, concerted effort is required to ensure that girls are supported to access and complete their education.
This is well demonstrated in the districts of Lilongwe, Ntchisi and Dowa where men and women play an equal and important role to achieve this feat, all thanks to the Innovations in Health Rights and Development project (iHEARD).
Funded by the Global Affairs Canada (GAC) through CODE, the five year project which is being implemented by a consortium of health, education and communication partners, aims to increase the realization of sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) for the most vulnerable adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) aged 10-24 in Malawi, by reducing barriers to SRHR education and services.
Forum for African Women Educationalists in Malawi (FAWEMA) manages the education pillar by providing age appropriate SRHR information among in-school adolescents through the iHEARD clubs where puberty books which the project developed are used.
Since parents are also instrumental, the project trained parents on how to talk to their children about SRHR using Tiamasukire Achinyamata [How to Talk to Your Kids About SRHR]’ booklets.
“The iHEARD project has made me appreciate the need to advocate for openness in dealing with sexual and reproductive health issues among girls. This is not a women-only issue, it is our issue too, it affects our daughters,” says Mr David Levis who is also Group Village Head Bongwe from Traditional Authority Masumbankhunda in Lilongwe.
The traditional leader says, before, girls were staying from school when experiencing menstruation for fear of stigma and being laughed at by boys in class. This, he says, has changed because boys are also trained to understand that menstruation is a normal and right thing to happen.
“We, men, also discuss these issues with young men in our community so that they learn to respect girls and create an environment where girls are comfortable to learn,” he says, adding, “Men are even sewing reusable sanitary pads to make them available for girls.”
Primary Education Advisor (PEA) for Malingunde Zone, Theodora Sakala says by involving men, the iHEARD project has helped both male and female community members to speak freely about SRH.As a result of the SRH education intervention, unwanted pregnancies are reducing among the project’s target participants; reusable sanitary pads are made available thereby reducing absenteeism during menstruation, while teenage mothers [45 in Lilongwe alone] have returned to school in the 2024-25 academic year.
