“This (increased) is a worrisome development in as far as promoting girl-child rights is concerned.”
Malawi has recorded a staggering spike of more than 40, 000 in teenage pregnancies within the eight months of school break due to the global novel Covid-19 pandemic.
Plan International Malawi and Organisation for Sustainable Social Economic Development Initiative (OSSEDI) made the revelation last Thursday in Nsanje District when they organised training for district level officials on the impact of Covid-19 on girls.
Malawi has one of the highest rates of early marriage and teenage pregnancy in the world with about half of the girls marrying before the age of 18, according to available government records
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Over 40, 000 teenage pregnancies were recorded in the country within eight months that included the school break due to Covid- 19 pandemic.
Malawi News Agency (Mana) in Nsanje learnt from Plan Malawi International and Organisation for Sustainable Social Economic Development Initiative (OSSEDI) organized training for district level officials on the impact of Covid-19 on girls.
Plan International Malawi and OSSEDI on Thursday organized the training for Nsanje District Executive Committee and Gender Technical Working Group to develop their capacity to deal with the current impact of Covid-19 pandemic in Nsanje as the national trend an increase in sexual and Gender Based Violence (GBV)by almost 25 per cent.
Women Councillors Caucus in Malawi has appealed for financial support from the government, saying it is failing to implement programs to empower women and girls due to resource constraints.
The Caucus says it does not want to turn to “foreign donors” for support because such “donors are unpredictable”.
Vice-chairperson, Esther Sagawa said this in Mangochi during a training workshop on gender responsive budgeting, which Malawi Local Government Association (Malga) organized for female councillors.
Deputy Minister of Local Government, Halima Daudi
The training, which brought together all the 66 female councillors in Malawi, was opened by the Deputy Minister of Local Government, Halima Daudi.