11/10/2023
*PRESS STATEMENT BY THE MEDIA NETWORK ON CHILD RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT (MNCRD) TO COMMEMORATE THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE GIRL*
11-10-2023
LUSAKA (FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE)
*INVESTMENT IN VULNERABLE GIRLS CAN BE A GAME CHANGER IN OUR QUEST FOR SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT*
MNCRD joins the rest of the world to commemorate the International Day of the Girl under the theme, ‘Invest in girls’ rights: our leadership and wellbeing’.
This theme is timely as it reminds governments across the world that an empowered girl can contribute to the social and economic wellbeing of the country.
A package of interventions should be deliberate if we have to achieve these results. This involves quality education premised on a curriculum that responds to the status of the girls using demographics such as remote-rural, rural, high-densely populated, and one that addresses hindrances such as child marriages and inhibited access to alcohol and drugs.
Through social media, the country has watched with awe the exposure of girls who are supposed to be in class to alcohol and access to places where it is sold.
The package should also include tailor-made life skills and health education that is focused on changing the behaviours and values of the girls with specific input on the importance of education for them to break the poverty cycle. This will delay the girls’ s*x debut and array their interest in illicit activities.
As the Ministry of Education reviews the curriculum, it should equally address an examination-centric education system to ensure that despite yearning to pass examinations, the learners to concentrate more on acquiring knowledge, behaviours, values and ultimately skills.
We call upon local authorities, faith based organizations, traditional authorities, lecturers and teachers, among others, to prioritise the empowerment of girls.
We equally advise the nation to ensure that boys are not left behind to commit heinous crimes as members of gangs as that has affected girls negatively with some of them failing to attend classes for fear of being attacked.
Henry Kabwe
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
