Government, NGOs urged to invest more in girls
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Malawi Officer in Charge, Miranda Tabifor has urged government and Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in the country to invest more in girls, if they are to contribute in the country’s development.
She made the remarks on Thursday during the commemoration of international day of the girl child which was organized by Girls Empowerment Network (GENET) at Chiseka Primary School Ground in Lilongwe under the theme ‘Our time is now-our rights, our future’.
Tabifor said that in many communities in the country girls are in large population hence there is a need to invest more in them so that they should be able to contribute in the development of the country.
“In many communities in Malawi majority of the young people are girls and you cannot go in the community and said you do not find girls.
“Therefore if we invest more in these girls that form a critical mass of the population and that are mostly subjected to different inequalities that we know such as; teenage pregnancies, child/early marriages, we are likely going to develop our country as these girls will have a role to play,” Tabifor said.
She added that, as UNFPA they will continue supporting partners that are working in the areas of promoting the welfare of girls in the country.
According to her, currently UNFPA is providing GENET with financial assistance in order for it to run some of its projects that are aiming at empowering girls and young women in the country with various skills.
In her comment, GENET Programs Advisor, Takondwa Kaliwo said that with support from UNFPA and other donors, her organization is committed to empowering girls in the country in various aspects.
“With support which we are getting from various donors including UNFPA, our aim is to empower girls throughout the country so that they should have resilience and skills that would help them achieve their dreams.
“Currently we are working on different programs which include education as well as Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) programs,” Kaliwo said.
She also said that, besides other programs they are implementing a project dubbed ‘Technology and Empowerment Enhancing Network in Safe Spaces (TEENS)’ which among other things is aiming at empowering girls and young women in the country with business skills.
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