Decentralise child birth registration

GOVERNMENT must decentralise the registration and issuance of certificates if the number of child registration is to increase, World Vision national child rights advocacy co-ordinator Lifuna Simushi has said.

And World Vision Zambia has this year done 14,000 birth registrations although certificates are yet to be issued.

In an interview with Femail, Mr Simushi said the current situation where all issuance of birth certificates are done in Lusaka has drastically contributed to low levels of registration which is at 15 per cent countrywide.

He also expressed concern over the failure by Government to highlight the benefits of registering births among ordinary communities in the country.

“Communities still do not see the value of having births registered. In other countries you cannot get a place in Grade one or university without a birth certificate; in Zambia we have plenty of alternatives like using an affidavit,” Mr Simushi said.

Additionally he said Government should attach priority to registering births because it is important in the fight against child marriages and cases of defilement and sexual abuse.

“We have had situations where it is difficult to prove that the child who is defiled or married off is a minor in the absence of a birth record,” Mr Simushi said. The birth certificate legitimises the existence and identity and gives a child a sense of belonging.

And World Vision child protection advocacy officer Chikontwe Mulenga said the institution has managed to withdraw 150 girls from child marriages.

Mr Mulenga said the involvement of traditional rulers has made an impact on the fight against child marriages.

He also said child advocacy protection clubs have been created in schools to promote child participation in the issues that affect them.

Media has demonised men – Mannasseh

 THE media has created a picture that Zambian men are the cause of all the evil that happens to women, Lusaka-based HIV/AIDS activist Mannasseh Phiri has said.

Dr Phiri said the media has continued creating an image that men are bad hence perpetuating stereotypes.

Speaking during a plenary discussion at the first-ever national forum for Gender in Media organised by Alchemy Women in Leadership, he said the media does not highlight the good other men do.

“The media has created a picture that men are cheats, liars, womanisers, defilers, HIV transmitters, and the list is endless, but we still have good men out there who are worth of profiling in the media,” Dr Phiri said.

He said there is need for transformative journalism that will endeavour to see that professional ethics are respected.

Dr Phiri challenged the media to build boys instead of attempting to repair men who are already grown. “Let’s build boys to men of quality who are not afraid to be equal to women,” he added.

And Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation director of programmes Kenneth Maduma said there is a challenge of unprofessionalism in the media hence the growing tendency of portraying men as evil.

Mr Maduma said media personnel sensationalise stories in order to sell their stories.
“We are leaving a lot of stories hanging because we do not investigate thoroughly and that in itself has led to men being deemed bad before the eyes of society,” he said.

Is labia elongation a violation of women’s bodies

OFTEN times, I stare at my body in the mirror whether conscious or not, I realise that African black women have little or no control over what happens to their bodies with special regards towards sexual gratification.
Vivid memories of my early teen days serve me of times when an elderly woman opposite our house in Lusaka’s Libala township, where I grew up from, would coerce me to engage in labia-pulling without giving reasons why such a strenuous activity was important.
I remember how I would sit in the bathroom in the evenings practicing it as it is supposed to be done behind closed doors.
I would do it manually and at the end of it all, I would but just experience excruciating pain and sometimes I was advised to take certain herbs that would make them grow faster without any pain.
During class, my fellow schoolgirls would say “the labia are used to enhance sexual satisfaction for a man and sometimes makes childbirth easier.”
My teachers would tell me that “women who do not pull their labia to a desirable size will never get married and if they do, men will run away from them in search of women who have.”
Labia stretching also referred to as labia-elongation or labia-pulling is the act of elongating the labia minora through manual manipulation.
It is commonly referred to as ‘bush visiting’ because girls often perform it while in the bush on errands such as collecting firewood.
They begin the practice at 9 to 12 years because at this age, the young girl’s tissues are softer and flexible for pulling.
It is a familiar cultural practice in most African countries such as Rwanda, Zambia, Malawi, Uganda, Burundi and a few other countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
It is performed for sexual enhancement of a man and is perceived to facilitate orgasm and female ejaculation.
However the benefits labia elongation may have, truth remains it adds no ‘flavour’ to the sexual romance between a man and woman.
And to solidify that labia elongation adds no ‘aroma’ to the sexual act, Lusaka-based reproductive health specialist Swebby Macha said there is no evidence medically to suggest that the elongation enhances sexual pleasure in both men and women.
Dr Macha, however, said most of the perceived enhanced sexual pleasure could be psychological.
He noted that there are minor health risks involved in labia pulling such as initial pain, swelling and irritation from certain herbal oils.
“During sexual stimulation, the labia minora swell and become more sensitive to stimulation,” Dr Macha added.
Apart from health risks involved, labia elongation does infringe on the sexual rights of women.
To Peter Mweemba, a married man of Lusaka, labia-elongation is an act of slavery where a woman is made to be an object of sexual satisfaction of a man.
Mr Mweemba said the sexual rights of a woman are violated as she is made to do everything possible to ensure a man is satisfied in bed.
“To me, whether a woman has them or not doesn’t serve any purpose but I would rather go for one with the natural ones,” he narrated.
So true is that labia pulling is solely for the benefit of a man and obviously leaves a woman with no choice to choose what she feels is best for her.
Similarly, Young Women Christian Association (YWCA) an organisation that supports the sexual and reproductive rights of women told this author that the culture of labia elongation should not be mandatory for all girls to practice.
YWCA executive director Patricia Ndhlovu charged that the culture of labia-elongation should not be imposed on the young girls but rather they must be given freedom to choose what they feel is best for themselves.
Ms Ndhlovu challenged traditional counsellors tasked with the responsibility of handling young girls once matured to give proper guidance to them regarding the importance of labia elongation.
“Personally, I do not think labia pulling has any bearing on sexual intercourse and we demand that girls should be furnished with information as regards to why they must be engaged in labia pulling,” she added.
And as we commemorate this year’s 16 Days of Activism against gender-based violence, it is particularly important that certain cultural practices are abolished or rather amended to ensure that the rights of women are not violated.
This year’s 16 days of activism against gender-based violence is running under the theme ‘From peace in the home to peace in the nation: Stop gender-based violence: Empower women’.
Violence against women range from physical, emotional, sexual, and verbal and the list goes on.
And part six Article 21 of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) protocol on gender and development, member states are urged to eliminate gender-based violence such as domestic violence, rape, femicide, sexual harassment, female genital mutilation and all other forms of GBV.
Furthermore, the article states that member states should discourage traditional norms including social, economic, cultural and political practices, which legitimise and exacerbate the persistence and tolerance of GBV with the view to eliminate them.

Africa should continue wooing investors’

AFRICA should create a good environment for investors to foster public private partnerships for advanced sustainable economic growth on the continent.
This was said at the three-day second African Union private sector and agribusiness forum that was here recently.
The forum ran under the theme ‘transforming Africa’s agriculture for shared prosperity and improved livelihoods: harnessing opportunities for inclusive growth and sustainable development’.
In her keynote address, Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture for African Union Commission Rhoda Tumusiime noted that there is an increase in the number of private sector firms that seek to partner with African governments in fostering change in the agriculture sector.
Ms Tumusiime said there is need to scale up and replicate these efforts in a sustainable and all-inclusive manner.
She said “as the AUC we will continue to pursue mutually beneficial long-term relationships that we see building between the private sector and our governments that will be based on mutual understanding of incentives, roles and expectations of the public and private sectors.”
Ms Tumusiime also earlier noted that member states should take agriculture as a business that has to be financed.
She said unless the sector is funded to play its role, it will not be able to contribute the much-needed rewards and other multiplier effects on improved food, nutrition, jobs, wealth and social welfare.
Meanwhile, Rwandan Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources Geraldine Mukeshimana said agribusiness remains important in that it contributes to poverty reduction.
Ms Mukeshimana said agribusiness contributes three percent to Africa’s gross domestic product.
She said African governments should take advantage of the increasing population as this will increase demand for food.
“Unfortunately we are seeing a situation where there is reduced investment in agriculture worldwide which has resulted in food shortage and poverty,” Ms Mukeshimana said.

Panos launches $150,000 scheme for governance

PANOS Institute Southern Africa (PSAF) has launched a US$150,000 radio platform for participation of the marginalised rural communities on the management and governance of natural resources in the Southern African Development Community.
The project will cover Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Although it was pegged to be operationalised by September this year, it is late by a month and is expected to end in October 2015.
And rural community radio stations will be used as a mode of communication that communities will have to enhance their participation.
Speaking during the radio platform citizen participation regional conference in Lusaka yesterday, PSAF executive director Lilian Keifer noted that the intervention of involving rural communities will enable them engage in dialogue and debate on the management and governance of the region’s natural resources and how they can be improved for their own benefit.
Ms Keifer said the thematic focus of the project is the intervention in extractive industries.
“It goes without saying that local communities have faced the brunt of the negative effects of the extractive activities in their areas. These range from toxic waste in the sources of the water and other sources of livelihoods, internal displacement, and poor working conditions, among others,” she said.
Ms Keifer said people do not have an opportunity of channels through which they can communicate their sufferings.
“PSAF sees the need to empower these communities with platforms like radio listening clubs where they can receive information on how to demand accountability from these industries and claim their protection and dignity,” she said.
Speaking at the same function, Panos Great Lakes regional director Cyprien Ndikumana said the project will help restore peace, especially in countries where wrangles are prominent due to abundant natural resources.
Mr Ndikumana added that local people will be able to air their views on the management of natural resources and “this will raise awareness to politicians, who will know exactly what rural communities have to say over their own minerals.”

Teachers’ best suited to campaign for selves

TEACHER unions are in a better position to wage a serious campaign to uplift the status and position of women and girls in the country, Education Deputy permanent secretary Christine Mayondi has said.
Officiating at the first ever Southern African Women in Education Network (SAWEN) conference in Lusaka yesterday, Ms Mayondi said teacher unions have the ability to address some of the hurdles preventing the advancement of women and girls due to their presence countrywide.
The conference attracted participants from Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
She said teacher unions must be seen in the frontline fighting the negative vices that hinder the development and advancement of women and girls.
“I’m calling upon the Zambia National Union of Teachers (ZNUT) to become a trend setter to accord our women folk more opportunities and positions of leadership in the union at all levels. As unions, you should be seen to promote gender equality by practicing what we preach,” Ms Mayondi said.
Speaking earlier, ZNUT General Secretary Newman Bubala said issues of gender were cardinal to the Zambian government as evident in the creation of the gender ministry.
Mr Bubala said this shows how passionate Zambia is with the advancement of girls and women.
He said “in every teacher union in Zambia we have ensured there is a gender desk.”
And SAWEN president Leah Kasaji pledged to include more women to serve in teacher union positions.
Ms Kasaji noted that if that is to be achieved there is need to all teacher unions countrywide and the region to work together.
She however said “the teacher unions will not relent but to ensure they contribute to the fight against teen pregnancies among schoolgirls.”

Engage youths in farming, Agribiz winner urges stakeholders

AFRICA’s agricultural transformation is attainable if youths are engaged in high farming, a 2014 AgriBiz for Africa Youth Competition winner Nickson Muturi has said.
Speaking during the second high-level African Union private sector agribusiness forum in Kigali recently, Mr Muturi noted that African governments should develop profitable agricultural policies that will enable youths engage in farming.
The meeting, which attracted participants across Africa, was running under the theme ‘Transforming Africa’s agriculture for shared prosperity and improved livelihoods: harnessing opportunities for inclusive growth and sustainable development.’
Mr Muturi said, “I am suggesting that we need to have role models in the agriculture sector that will inspire the youths to engage in farming as that will have potential to transform the sector in Africa.”
Additionally, chairperson for chamber of young entrepreneurs in Rwanda Lydie Hakizimana said it’s time African leaders paid attention to youths in agriculture.
Ms Hakizimana noted that youths in agriculture are not given better incentives and that is why majority of them leave the sector.
And Nigeria’s Fresh and Young Brains development initiative chairperson Nkiruka Nnaemego said the youths in agriculture not only need role models but mentors.
Ms Nnaemego said Africa needs to introduce awards scheme that will motivate youths in the agriculture sector.

President Sata child rights defender’

AMONG child rights activists, President Sata will be remembered as a defender and champion of children’s rights.
His countless engagements with children from all walks of lives are evident following the different interactions he and First Lady Christine Kaseba had with them at State House.
In an interview, Media Network for Child Rights and Development (MNCRD) project manager Prisca Sikana said the late President recognised children as citizens of the land.
Ms Sikana said during his three-year tenure, President Sata paid attention to children by ensuring they had access to basic needs such as education and good health.
She said “this was demonstrated through adding mother and child health issues to Ministry of Community Development and putting together the Ministry of Gender and Child Development. Children issues were moved from Youth and Sport where we as child rights activists believed it was overshadowed”.
Ms Sikana added that the introduction of a new realistic curriculum which was promised for many years also became a reality for the Zambian child.
In a separate interview, Advocacy for Juvenile Justice executive director Josephat Njobvu said the late President was a pro-poor person who looked into the plight of children from all walks of life.
Mr Njobvu said during the three years Mr Sata served as President, the country saw a number of legal reforms which included those that looked into the plight of juvenile justice.
He said “juvenile justice legal reforms were incorporated into the current laws of the land”.

Agriculture key to improvement’

TO MIRIAM Chunga, a small holder farmer of Shamundende village in Sichanzu ward, central Zambia, farming has not only enabled her raise finances but has greatly improved the health of her family.
Before venturing into farming three years ago, the Chunga household had been faced with malnutrition due to lack of sufficient food.
For the past three years, Mr Chunga has religiously been growing crops such beans, spinach, okra, tomatoes, onions and various vegetables on a 50sq meter piece of land. The fact that she has a well which never runs dry at her farm has also been a plus for her.
“The dietary needs of my family have greatly improved since I ventured into farming. We are now able to eat nutritious meals every day. Apart from improving our diet, I am also able to buy other foods to supplement our nutritious diet as well as send my children to school by selling the surplus farm produce,” Chunga narrated.
About 300 metres away from Ms Chunga is another small holder farmer, Mervis Chibeleki who specialises in animal farming. Ms Chibeleki’s family diet has also improved because of her involvement in farming.
Ms Chibeleki who started animal farming in 2012 owns goats and chickens but also has a garden like the rest of the farmers in the village.
Like Ms Chunga, Ms Chibeleki’s interest in animal farming was in a bid to escape poverty and malnutrition.
“When I started, I had one goat and one chicken. Now, I am a proud owner of seven goats and 20 chickens. Animal farming has proven to be a good source of proteins recommended for health living,” Ms Chibeleki said.
Evidently agriculture does not only play a role in food security but also contributes to the good health of citizens particularly children.
Child malnutrition has proved to be a challenge in most developing countries. In Zambia, 45 per cent of children under five years old have stunted; a situation which has been attributed to poor diet and health.
It is against this background that Realigning Agriculture to Improve Nutrition (RAIN) project was initiated in Mumbwa district to help small holder farmers improve the nutrition of households.
Mumbwa district with an estimated population of 218,328 has child stunting levels at 43 per cent.
RAIN, a project implemented by Concern Worldwide with support from Irish Aid and Kerry Group, is a five year one programme which aims at eradicating malnutrition among families in Mumbwa.
Small holder farmers under the RAIN project mainly focuses on food production and diversification of household consumption. Framers also focus on cultivating and processing a variety of crops.
The crops grown which are chosen based on their nutritional value include legumes (cowpeas, groundnuts, biofortified beans, orange fleshed sweet potatoes), vegetables (amaranthus, rape, tomatoes, carrots, spinach, pumpkins, green beans) and fruits (banana suckers, granadillas, watermelons).
Additionally, the farmers boast of a ‘goat pass on scheme’ which aims at ensuring they all have animal source products that provides the much-needed proteins and minerals.
RAIN project district programme coordinator Concern Worldwide Richard Mwape said about 45, 000 households have so far been empowered with the know how to improve their nutrition.
Mr Mwape said agriculture has potential to improve food security and reduce hunger levels currently being experienced by many families.
“The use of agriculture to fight child stunted growth in Mumbwa district couldn’t have come at a better time especially that majority of households (87 per cent) have access to land,” he said.
Another organisation which places emphasis on ending hunger and malnutrition in Africa is NEPAD’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), a continental framework for transforming agriculture in Africa.
The framework aims at improving national status by elimination child under-nutrition in Africa with a view of bringing down stunted growth to 10 per cent and underweight to five per cent by 2015.
And Mumbwa District administrative officer Charles Hamphande has recommended for more projects that will reduce hunger and increase food security as well as provide nutrition.
Mr Hamphande however said there is need for guidance on the type of crops small holder farmers can diversify in to reduce hunger.
Irish ambassador to Zambia, Finbar O’Brien said addressing under-nutrition and hidden hunger through nutrition needed the integrational approach as malnutrition across sectors.
Mr O’Brien said there have been some levels of success especially with the reduction in under-five mortality rates but Zambia can do much more.
“However, nutrition for growth commitments to reduce under nutrition by 50 per cent and increase nutrition funding by 20 per cent year are a bold statement of commitment,” Mr O’Brien.
And Deputy Minister-Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Greyford Monde said the government is cognizant that combating under-nutrition will result in improved social welfare and eventual reduction in poverty levels in the country.
Mr Monde said hunger affects human health and development.
“It is for this reason that Government is developing operational guidelines for the promotion of diverse locally available and processed foods,” he said.

Street child narrates sexual abuse ordeal

A SOMBRE mood engulfed the whole place as tears rolled down people’s cheeks when Mary Tembo (17) emotionally shared her experience about the sexual abuse she has suffered at the hands of other street children daily.
With a solemn heart- breaking song done by the Sakala Brothers playing in the background, Mary seemingly turned the whole event into a funeral service when she mentioned that she also suffered sexual abuse from police officers and security guards at the expense of giving her solace.
This news sent shivers down the spine of the listeners who found it rather absurd that security personnel, who are supposed to be the custodians of the law and order, actually engage themselves in such vices.
Mary narrated that street girls hardly sleep at night because they are repeatedly raped and defiled by older male street children.
“When we run to the police station to seek help and shelter, the police officers take turns in defiling us, saying we have no choice but to give in because we need their protection. Sometimes security guards come to pick us for sex in exchange for a place to sleep,” she lamented.
The plight of street children, whose stories remain untold because no one bothers to hear them. They have no one to fight for them; no one to help them seek medical services when they are defiled, sodomised and raped.
The ordeal faced by Mary and other girls has seen an increase in the HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infection (STI) levels among street children.
Boys on the streets are also faced with a risk of sodomy from older male street children and homosexuals in communities.
Uhm! When everyone seems to care less, heavens have smiled on the street children as Fountain of Hope (FoH) launched a One Stop Drop-in centre for street children. The centre will be a safety net to save the lives of street children and others.
The facility, which is based in Lusaka’s Kamwala township and supported by Save the Children, is an appropriate and supreme means to deal with the gender- based violence street children face.
FOH founder and board chairperson Rodgers Mwewa explained that the One Stop Drop-in centre has been designed to save both the children on the streets and others that do not have access to quality and timely healthcare services.
“As you may be aware, these abuses include sexual abuse which is the primary transfer of HIV/AIDS and STIs among children,” he charged.
Mr Mwewa, who is also Mwansabombwe member of Parliament, said the facility will have a clinic which will provide care services aimed at preventing transmission through the administration of post-exposure prophylaxis (PRP) to sexually-abused girls, and offer effective contraceptives to prevent unwanted pregnancies that come with such abuse.
“We will also administer treatment to victims that will ensure STIs are brought to an end,” he added.
Aside from treatment, the centre will have paralegals who will advise on the law once a case of defilement is established and counsellors will also be housed there.
FoH, which opened its doors to the public in 1996, has over the past decade helped more than 100 children to attain their higher education.
FoH school caters for 500 children from grade one to seven and offers 120 children with good shelter and protection, as well as access to basic human needs.
However, FoH has a challenge of a safe house for street girls but there is an alternative arrangement where Young Women Christian Association houses them.
This cheered Gender and Child Health minister Inonge Wina who commended FoH for this unusual initiative. The visibly elated Ms Wina said such an initiative is welcome as it supplements Government’s efforts in the fight against streetism and gender-based violence against street children.
She charged that the levels of HIV/AIDS and STIs are high and Government will create the much-needed conducive environment for the children to realise their full potential.
Ms Wina said the pandemic is robbing the children of their childhood, which is not supposed to be the case as they are a foundation of any nation.
“The facility will greatly assist our children who fall victim to gender-based violence in its many forms, namely defilement, physical abuse, emotional and psychological abuse. It will decongest the streets and offer hope to children,” she said.
And Kabwata member of Parliament Given Lubinda applauded the efforts of FOH and further thanked them for choosing his constituency to build such a facility.
Mr Lubinda noted that the burden of street children is for everyone and society should endeavour to help and not leave it to Government alone.
He has also appealed to Government to include the building of recreational facilities in the 2015 national budget.
“Lack of recreational facilities has contributed to streetism among children and those who have once been there are prompted to go back because they have nothing to keep them busy. Therefore I am appealing to our Minister of Gender, Ms Wina, to consider refurbishing our already-existing play park here in Kabwata Constituency,” Mr Lubinda urged.
Additionally, Save the Children director programme operations Chilobe Kambikambi observed that a child in Zambia is fraught with hard realities.
Ms Kambikambi said the One Stop Drop-in Centre will achieve immediate and lasting change in the lives of the children.
She said, “Save the Children is very proud to support and be part of this launch of the One Stop Drop-in centre here at the FOH.”
Children comprise more than 51 percent of Zambia’s population and these young citizens need protection from the risks that threaten their rights and well-being.
Sadly, Zambia is ranked 36th out of 52 in the index ranking of child protection in the African report on children’s well-being developed by the African Child Policy forum.
Therefore, building partnerships is one of the pillars that will address this picture Zambia is currently mirrored on.

We need female teachers – Kandesha school head

KANDESHA Primary School acting headteacher Emmanuel Kana has implored Government to deploy female teachers to the school to help handle and mould the schoolgirls there.
The school has never had a female teacher since it was taken over by Government five years ago.
In an interview, Mr Kana said early marriages were rife because the girls have no female teachers to inspire them to complete their education.
He said the trend had led to most of them thinking that only men can be teachers as they have never seen a female teacher before owing to the area being rural.
“Whenever we have sports day, we normally camp in some area and that poses a danger to our schoolgirls as they have no one to take care of them and they remain vulnerable to both the male teachers and fellow schoolboys,” he lamented.
Mr Kana lamented that when schoolgirls become of age whilst at school, male teachers do not know how to handle the cases owing to how sacred menstruation is regarded in society.
He said the locals are highly superstitious which makes it impossible for male teachers to help the schoolgirls once they mess themselves up during menstruation.
“If only we had a female teacher, she can be able to handle such issues as she can understand them better. Last time we had a situation where a girl messed up and she was laughed at by her peers. If we had a female teacher she could have handled the case better,” he said.
Mr Kana said he has since reported the matter to the District Education Board Secretary (DEBS) John Kaira.
When contacted for a comment, John Kaira said he is aware of the situation and will soon liaise with the provincial education officer to see how best the situation can be dealt with.
Mr Kaira said it’s important for schools to have female teachers who the girls can look up to and get inspiration.
“Female teachers act as confidants to our girls and so we will look into the issue seriously,” he said.
The school is located 13 kilometres away from the central business district of Mumbwa in Central Province.

Lack of sanitary provisions hurdle to girls’ education’

IT IS the time of the month and 14-year-old Justinah Hamweemba (not real) of Sakende village of Mumbwa laments that she once again has to miss class for four days.
Simply put she is worried that every time she is having her menstrual periods she messes up her school uniform because she has no access to sanitary towels.
Justinah a Grade six pupil told the author that she when she is having her periods, she cannot afford sanitary towels therefore she just wears a pant and ends up messing herself up while at school.
Justinah, an orphan who lives with her struggling grandmother lamented: “I have been subjected to humiliating and embarrassing incidents especially from boys. This leads me to abscond from school at least four days in a month.”
This unfortunate situation however, is also experienced by other girls in the area including 15-year-old Martha Mweene (not real name) of Shakamba village in Nampundwe of Shibuyunji who said that she only has two pieces of chitenge material which she uses every month.
Martha, a Grade six pupil explained that she experiences heavy periods especially the first two days and because of that she needs to use more than one piece of material to protect herself a day.
“In addition, when I am having my periods, I suffer from terrible backaches and stomach cramps. I fail to socialise with my peers and tend to miss classes sometimes,” she recounted.
These and many more are the experiences schoolgirls especially those in the rural areas go through every month they have menstrual cycle.
Their plight is worsened because they do not have access to proper sanitary towels. Presumably, this scenario is no different from what other schoolgirls in other parts of the country experience as well.
Menstrual periods can be cumbersome and lack of proper items to use during this time makes the situation worse especially for these girls who have to cover long distances to and from school every day.
Clearly lack of proper and adequate sanitary supplies is contributing to the high number of schoolgirls absconding from classes; eventually, dropping out of school completely.
According to the 2013 National Educational Bulletin from the Ministry of Education over 500,000 children are out of school of which 241,616 are boys and 261,094 are girls.
Perhaps it is time Zambian women parliamentarians took a leaf from their Kenyan counterparts who lobbied their government in 2011 to allocate US$4 million of the national budget to the purchase of sanitary towels for the schoolgirls.
It is imperative that this gender responsive strategy is adopted by female parliamentarians in order to alleviate the sufferings of the girls especially in the rural areas.
And this development has seen Lukashya member of Parliament of Kasama, Alfreda Kansembe pledging to advocate for the supply of sanitary towels in schools now that Parliament is in session.
Ms Kansembe said it was important that Government starts supplying sanitary towels especially to girls in remote areas who have no means of survival to deter them from using toilet tissue and pieces of chitenge material which is not ideal and can pose health risks.
“Periods bring about all sorts of discomfort for girls who have nothing to use during that time especially when looking at the number of kilometres they have to cover when going to school,” she shared.
Furthermore, it is absurd that there are some civil society organisations (CSOs) which are advocating for the distribution of condoms in schools but no one cares to lobby for the supply of sanitary pads.
This is why it is incumbent upon CSOs to start advocating for the distribution of menstrual supplies to schoolgirls.
Of late the country has been engulfed in a debate on whether condoms should be distributed in schools or not in order to curb high incidences of early pregnancies.
Forum for African Women Educationalist (FAWEZA) executive director Agnes Shipanuka challenged other CSOs and Government to begin the distribution of sanitary towels in school toilets.
Ms Shipanuka urged Government to emulate the Kenyan Government which provides free sanitary pads to schoolgirls. She narrated that with the lack of access to menstrual supplies and sanitation; schoolgirls’ educational opportunities remain marginalised.
Ms Shipanuka who is a teacher by profession explained that “a girl who is absent from school for four days in 28 days loses 13 learning days equivalent to two weeks of learning every term. In an academic year (nine months), a girl loses 39 learning days equivalent to six weeks of learning time.”
True the days that a girl stays away from school are many for her to lose focus and interest for school. “As FAWEZA, we do supply sanitary towels to the girls we sponsor in schools,” she said.
Furthermore, Nampundwe Primary School guidance and career teacher Onesta Namakando implored Government to start distributing menstrual supplies for the benefit of the girls.
Ms Namakando feels it is a challenge for schoolgirls in rural areas to even socialise and interact with others for fear that “they may mess up themselves as they do not have provisions they can use.”
She further stated that girls find it hard to dispose of the materials they use during menses due to erratic water supplies in rural schools.
Apart from schoolgirls dropping out from school, lack of menstrual supplies has potential to cause various infections due to improper items being.
Lusaka-based reproductive health specialist Swebby Macha said the use of non-recommended items such as toilet tissue and chitenge material can cause infection in the upper genital tract.
Dr Macha said toilet tissue and pieces of cloth are not meant for use during menstrual periods.
He said the University Teaching Hospital receives cases of pelvic infection and vaginal thrush due to the use of such items by girls and women.
“The recommended items to use during periods are sanitary towels and tampons and not toilet tissue. But in the case of poverty, people are advised to use pieces of cloths provided they thoroughly wash and iron them to kill germs,” he advised.
Menstruation periods though considered sacred and secret should not be a hurdle to education but rather one that must be enjoyed by both women and girls as that defines one’s sexuality.
If this issue is not properly addressed, Zambia risks not attaining the Education for All (EFA) goals and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 to achieve universal education for all children.

Child death, maternal health challenges

AS THE world prepares for the attainment of the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Zambia too is striving for the same.
Despite the strides Zambia is making, little seems to have been achieved especially in the area of reducing child mortality and improving maternal health.
The setbacks experienced in reducing child mortality rates and improving maternal health by two-thirds by 2015 range from social to economic. These setbacks vary from region to region, depending on social and cultural differences.
However, in North-Western Province, the fight against maternal and child deaths hinge greatly on cultural norms; this is because the habitants are widely known for being cultural.
That is why the culture of silence of keeping one’s pregnancy secret until asked by elderly women to share with the community is religiously observed despite its adverse effects.
Since time immemorial, pregnant women and girls upon knowing they were expecting were not allowed to share the knowledge of their pregnancy with anyone until after a period of three months. Unfortunately this practise has continued in certain parts of North-Western Province and is reportedly hindering the fight against maternal and child mortality deaths.
Acting maternal and child health co-ordinator at Solwezi District Community Office Sarah Tembo indicated that culture is a affecting the fight against high maternal deaths in the area.
Ms Tembo, pregnant women and girls do not seek maternal and child health services on time because they wait until they are permitted by the older women to do so, is normally after three months or more of pregnancy.
She was speaking during the stakeholder’s sensitisation and orientation meeting for Kasempa, Kitwe, Mwinilunga and Solwezi districts recently.
The meeting was aimed at increasing access to maternal and child health services in Zambia organised by PANOS Institute Southern Africa (PSAF) and supported by Save the Children International in line with the MDGs four and five.
MDGs four and five aim at reducing mortality rates by two-thirds, reducing the maternal mortality rate to three quarters and ensuring universal access to reproductive health.
Ms Tembo highlighted that the most important time for a pregnant woman to receive proper antenatal care was during the first trimester because that is when they are given anti-malaria prevention.
She further highlighted that some pregnant wait for as long as seven months hence missing out on the full preventive pregnancy care. Globally, more than 350,000 women die of preventable child birth complications.
In Zambia, 76 out of 1,000 infants die within a year of being born, while 119 out of 1,000 children die between the ages of one-five.
And 591 out of 1,000 children die within a specified period of giving birth due to pregnancy-related complications or child births; these rates are higher in rural areas.
But Zambia National Traditional Counsellors President Iress Phiri explained that traditionally when a woman realises she is pregnant, she is not allowed to tell anyone except her husband.
Further, she has to keep the pregnancy secret for some months until she is asked by an elderly grandmother to share the news with friends and relatives. “All this was purely done to prevent any miscarriages because not everyone is happy to hear that someone else is pregnant,” Ms Phiri said.
And addressing participants who attended the three-day workshop aimed at empowering community groups and local radio stations with knowledge on increasing access to maternal health services in Solwezi, PSAF programme manager Elias Banda reaffirmed the institute’s commitment to work with communities.
Mr Banda said PSAF has started a two-year advocacy campaign in Western and North-Western provinces aimed at increasing demand and access of maternal and child health services in rural Zambia.
He said “the project is aimed at helping Zambia attain the MDGs and will directly reach 24,000 women, 23,000 men, 6,000 boys and 11,000 girls in Mongu, Lukulu, Solwezi, Mwinilunga, Kasempa, Lusaka and Kitwe districts.”
Among the many activities planned by PSAF is the mobilisation of Safe Motherhood Action Group (SMAGS) and Radio Listening Clubs (RLC) among the rural communities to increase awareness on the importance of pregnant mothers and under-five children visiting health centres.
However, this practice has been described as ‘harmful’ by Mufumbwe’s Kanunga SMAG member Amon Muzenze.
Mr Muzenze said in an interview that the cultural practice is mostly observed in rural areas making the work of SMAGs difficult.
He narrated that young girls end up dying while at school because they are culturally-socialised not to share the news of pregnancy with anyone.
“There are situations where a young girl has to wait for the grandmother to instruct her when to go to the hospital for antenatal examination; which often times contributes to rising cases of obstetric fistula,” Mr Muzenze said.
And Kasempa Radio station manager Martha M’soka challenged the media to take the key role in addressing cultural barriers that have posed as a challenge in the fight against maternal and child mortality deaths.
Ms M’soka said local radio stations are key in the fight as they address the challenges the locals can identify themselves with.

Kanengo should become boarding school’

KANENGO Secondary School Parents Teachers Association (PTA) chairman Amon Muzenze of Mufumbwe has urged Government to turn the institution into a boarding school because of the long distances pupils cover.
Mr Muzenze said in an interview with Femail that pupils from far-flung areas cover distances of more than 400 kilometres to get the school.
He said it was the only secondary school in the area and accommodates more than 800 children. As a result, the children have been compelled to live in unsupervised weekly boarding houses.
“Last term we had close to 30 girls dropping out of school due to pregnancies because they live in boarding houses which are unsupervised. Besides the children suffer from hunger because they do not carry enough food and sometimes thieves break into their houses while they are attending lessons,” he said.
Mr Muzenze also said the school was in need of a science laboratory to enhance the studies of the pupils.
And Mr Muzenze expressed disappointment over failure by the area member of Parliament Stephen Masumba to develop his constituency since his election.
He appealed to Mr Masumba to lobby Government to help to develop Mufumbwe constituency.

Over 500,000 children out of school – ZANEC

OVER 500,000 children are currently out of school in Zambia of which 242,616 are boys and 261,094 are girls, Zambia National Education Coalition executive director Grace Manyonga (ZANEC) has said.
And ZANEC has developed an advocacy strategy to get back to school the out-of -school children which will begin in selected districts of Eastern, Luapula and Southern provinces.
Ms Manyonga attributed high levels of children out of school to increased levels of pregnancies, early marriages, and distances to school, affordability and illiteracy among parents.
Speaking in an interview, she said the glaring situation will result in direct failure by Zambia to attain the Education for All (EFA) goals and Millennium Development Goals of 2015 if access to basic education for vulnerable and marginalised children is not improved.
“There are 435,430 out of school children of primary school age 7-13 years of which 219,522 are boys while 215,918 are girls. There are a total of 69,190 at junior secondary level aged 14-15 years of which 23,094 are boys and 46,076 are girls,” she said.
On the advocacy strategy, Ms Manyonga will partner with the ministries of Education and Chiefs and Traditional Affairs to supplement their efforts on the national wide campaign to curb early marriages as it is one of the factors contributing to children dropping out of school.
She added “the objectives of the campaign are to reduce the number of out of school children at primary school level. To advocate for increased enrolment for of out of school children at primary school level by 2015.”
And Forum for African Women Educationalist (FAWEZA) executive director Agnes Shipanuka added that lack of support towards management of maturation to girls dropping out of school.
Ms Shipanuka urged Government to emulate the Kenyan government where they include the purchasing of sanitary towels in their national budget.
She said without access to menstrual supplies and sanitation, girls educational opportunities are marginalised.
“A girl who is absent from school for four days in 28 days loses 13 learning days equivalent to two weeks of learning in every school term. In an academic year (nine months) a girl loses 39 learning days equivalent to six weeks of learning time,” she said.

SADC chiefs to enhance women’s access to land

CHIEF Bright Nalubamba of the Ila people in Namwala signs the declaration in which traditional leaders pledged to increase women’s access to customary land. Looking on is Chief Chikanta of Zambia, Chiefs Ndabeni and Khumalo of Zimbabwe. - Picture by SITEMBILE SIWAWA.



AS SHE spoke during a high level resolution meeting at chief Nalubamba’s palace in Mbeza chiefdom of Southern Zambia, it dawned on the traditional leaders that were present that there was need to empower women with customary land.

Senior headwoman Vennah Shabenge of Shabenge village boasted that every woman of Mbeza chiefdom has been empowered with customary land regardless of status.
She said “customary land is a necessity for every woman for the enhancement of food security of a nation.”
Ideally, women consist of a large population in many African countries and in Zambia majority of them stay in rural areas.
They also consist the majority small scale farmers who are the main producers of food and it is ideal they are empowered with customary land for sustainable rural development owning to the fact that agriculture remains the backbone of Africa’s economy.
However, narrowing it down to Zambia, 94 per cent of land is customary and only six per cent belongs to the state (statutory).
Realistically, Zambian state land now lies in the hands of political cadres and as such it has become difficult for women to access statutory land for fear of violence.
This has drastically curtailed the chances of most women especially those in rural areas from accessing and owning land.
Perhaps, this is why the onus has solely remained on traditional leaders to ensure that women access and own customary land.
In a quest to increase women’s land rights, ‘Women for Change’ in partnership with ‘We Effect’ of the Swedish International Organisation recently organised a high level Southern African Development Community (SADC) traditional leader’s conference on land rights for women.
The three day conference was dubbed ‘Women’s Land Rights are Human Rights-Secure Equitable Access, Control and Ownership of Land by All’ and participants included 20 traditional leaders from Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The saying ‘land is wealth’ held true for these traditional leaders who resolved and made a declaration that women should own customary land.
Strategically, the 20 traditional leaders resolved and signed a declaration that women will be given priority to own and control land.
Host chief, senior chieftainess Nkomeshya Mukamambo III of the Soli people of Lusaka said women make good use of land once they are empowered than men and this increase chance of rural development.
The traditional leader shared that if women are empowered with land they have the power to break the poverty cycle that exists in rural families.
However, she said it was not enough to empower women with land alone but they also needed to have it certificated.
Chieftainess Nkomeshya stressed that customary land should not be certificated under statutory land laws for fear of it being grabbed by the state.
“The power and authority of a chief lies in land and that is why all certification of customary land given to women should be registered under the community land certificate and not statutory law because we fear it can be taken away from the traditional leaders,” she resolved.
Additionally, Chief Charumbira of Zimbabwe resolved that Couples who are empowered with customary land will have a certificate which bears both names of the husband and wife.
He said such a development will protect women from being left without land in an event where the husband dies or divorces her.
The traditional leader shared that the new constitution of Zimbabwe allows 50 per cent of land allocation to women as opposed to the previous 30 per cent.
He said this has forced traditional rulers to further empower them with customary land.
Chief Charumbira said women are unable to generate sustainable household incomes from their farming activities due to lack of ownership of land.
“Having enough food is the fundamental human right and precondition for people to be able to participate in their own development. Access to land by women is a human right,” he said.
The traditional leader added that women in his chiefdom also have ownership rights to mines.
And chieftainess Tereza Ndovi of Malawi said customary land will be given to women in any area without any manner of discrimination.
She said there are no shortcuts to poverty eradication unless women are empowered with land.
She said land is not only for the purposes of agriculture but rather it can be used for activities such as house building.
“In Malawi, women cannot own customary land but can only access it because we believe they will eventually be married off. It is only those from the matrilineal setup who are fortunate to own land,” she said.
As they say, culture is dynamic and not static, it is imperative that the patriarch system which has existed since time immemorial is changed to allow for more women to own customary land.
Even married women who are either divorced or widowed have a right to have the land they once worked on with their husbands.
Perhaps, that is why chief Chikanta of Southern province shared that land in his chiefdom is not given to individuals but rather families.
He said communities need to sensitise women to ask land from their traditional leaders and they should be free to use the land for any activities.
Further, he said traditional leaders should endeavour to have participatory and dialogue meetings with both men and women.
And chief Bright Nalubamba said a woman is held in high esteem in his chiefdom and that was why they own land.
He said the declaration will ensure investors and communities establish a trust fund which will be ploughed back into building educational, health, sanitation and food security facilities.
He said women in his chiefdom do not ask for relief food from government due to the empowerment scheme of customary land ownership.
All this has been enabled through the Mbeza strategic action plan where both men and women are at the centre of the development of the chiefdom.
“When I say women, I mean all classes of women be it married, single or divorced, they all own land and are free to do anything with the land,” he narrated.
It is only hoped that traditional leaders will see to it that women’s access and ownership of land is enhanced and increased for the betterment of rural communities.

5 Lusaka health centres to be upgraded

By SITEMBILE SIWAWA
GOVERNMENT will soon commission the expansion of maternity wards in five health centres in Lusaka with the aim of providing 24 hours maternal healthcare to expectant mothers.
The targeted health centres are Matero, Kanyama, Chipata, Chilenje and Chawama.

In an interview with Femail during the week, Ministry of Community Development Mother and Child Health Permanent Secretary Elywin Chomba said the commissioning of the health centres will decongest the University Teaching Hospital and Levy Mwanawasa General Hospital.
Prof Chomba’s comments come in the wake of concerns raised by the general public that there was need to either expand or construct maternity wings in Lusaka clinics.
She said the five health centres will be converted to first level district hospitals.
“I’m glad to inform you that we are on course with the expansion of the maternity wings in our clinics here in Lusaka and soon UTH will be decongested and we will be able to provide our mothers with 24 hours services within their reach,” Prof Chomba said.
On August 2, Deacon Phiri appealed through Zambia Daily Mail on the need to expand the maternity wing at Kanyama Clinic. He bemoaned the congestion that characterised the health centre the time he took a female relative there.
“There is need to expand the maternity wing or build another, bigger maternity wing in the township to ease the suffering of expectant mothers,” the letter read in part.

3 southern African chiefs pledge to increase women’s access to land

By SITEMBILE SIWAWA
TRADITIONAL leaders from three countries in Southern Africa have committed themselves to increase women’s access to land by banning oppressive customary practices in their chiefdoms.
The traditional leaders include Chiefs Bright Nalubamba and Chikanta of the Tonga speaking people in Zambia, Chief Charumbira of Zimbabwe and Chieftainess Tereza Ndovi of Malawi.

Speaking during a plenary discussion at the just ended Southern Africa Traditional Leaders Conference organised by Womn for Change in partnership with the Swedish Government in Lusaka, Chief Nalubamba said certain customary practices hinder women from accessing land.
The conference which is the second to be held drew traditional leaders and civil society organisations from Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe and ran under the theme ‘human rights-secure equitable access control and ownership of land by all’.
The traditional leader said women are important and qualify to be given land as they are the major producers of food.
“In my chiefdom Mbeza, land is not owned individually but as a family. The moment a woman is married she qualifies to own land from the family she is married into, even if she is divorced,” he said.
Additionally, Chief Chikanta said communities need to be sensitised on the harmful practices that have continued to hinder women from accessing land.
He said the practice of women getting consent from their husbands to be given land should be abolished.
“For a long time now society has been patriarchal and that in itself has been a major stumbling block for women to access land,” he said.
Speaking earlier, Chief Charumbira of Zimbabwe shared that the new constitution in his country has allowed women to be allocated 50 per cent of land from 30 per cent.
He added that women have also been privileged to own mining rights in their respective areas.
The traditional ruler has since advised policy makers to address challenges women face in accessing land.
And Chieftainess Ndovi land access by women was slowly becoming a problem in her chiefdom due to population increase.
She said although the matrilineal system is one that guides in accessing land, final authority still lies in men.
The chieftainess said “chiefs and government have now drafted a bill on ensuring everyone registers their land to avoid land wrangles.”

GBV attracts State criticism

By SITEMBILE SIWAWA
THE recent spate of gender-based violence (GBV) in the country has been attributed to domestic fights and attracted fierce criticism from Government and women organisations.

Gender and Child Development Permanent Secretary Daisy Ngambi is saddened that despite the community being sensitised, the levels of GBV have continued to escalate. “Government is doing all it can but the levels have continued going up.”
She has attributed the escalating cases of GBV to lack of understanding between men and women. “I think the causes of GBV are both social and economic and both men and women should learn to co-exist,” Ms Ngambi said.
Additionally, Young Women Christian Association executive director Patricia Ndhlovu retaliated calls for more sensitisation messages to be sent in the communities and cautioned people to resolve matters amicably without getting physical.
A woman does not have the right to bruise her husband’s manhood’s when she is denied conjugal rights. “All in all, there is no justification whatsoever to get physical to get what you want,” Ms Ndhlovu said.
And she also welcomed the launch of the forensic laboratory by Government as it will quicken the pace at which GBV cases will be disposed off.

Education, recreation programme cheers State

By SITEMBILE SIWAWA
GOVERNMENT is impressed with the progression of the Education Recreation and Sanitation programme for children of street vendors in Kapiri Mposhi.

The Education Recreation and Sanitation programme was rolled out in Kapiri Mposhi in 2010 and is aimed at providing basic learning to children who spent most time on the streets with their parents.
In an interview, Ministry of Gender and Child Development Permanent Secretary Daisy Ngambi said the programme has helped a number of children for street vendors.
Ms Ngambi however bemoaned that parents are willing to entrust their children with community teachers assigned with the task.
She said “we are thinking of rolling out the programme to national level once we see how successful it will be in Kapiri Mposhi.”
“We target children differently according to their different age groups and their needs until they are 10 years and go into the mainstream education system,” Ms Ngambi said.
And a Lusaka based health nutritionist said young children who spend time on the streets with their parents need to be given nutritious foods.
Dr Keith Mwamba said children do need foods with high proteins, carbohydrates and vitamins.
He said “we have seen a situation where a young child spends the whole day on the streets with his/her mother without being given proper foods. What I’m advising the mothers is to prepare nutritious foods for their children as they go to conduct their business on the street.”

Respectful maternity care campaign launched

MINISTER of Health Joseph Kasonde speaking at the launch of the national dissemination of the State of the World Midwifery (SOWMY) 2014 Report and Respectful Maternity Care campaign recently. On the left is United Nations Population Fund country representative Mary Otieno and members of the nursing council. - Picture by SITEMBILE SIWAWA.



By SITEMBILE SIWAWA
“ONE incident that has never left my mind during my time in labour ward was when a pregnant woman in advanced labour failed to walk to the delivery room from the waiting bay. A midwife hit her so hard on her back that the baby and placenta fell out,” recounted Ethel Mwamba (not real name).

“When I was a student midwife, I witnessed an incident where a midwife pulled the labia of a woman in labour because, according to her, the woman was not cooperating. And during a vaginal examination, the woman was not comfortable but was told that the midwife’s hand was not as big as her husband’s penis which made her pregnant,” narrated Mwangala Maimbo (not real name¬).
“I remember when I was in labour; I was scared to scream out in pain for fear of being told that I was not a teenager that I should be giving midwives problems,” Memory Chitembo (not real name) sadly recalled.
These and many more are complaints women and perhaps their husbands in our communities have over the way expectant women at maternity wings in various public health centres are treated by midwives.
However, Chibeka Kasonkolo, a midwife at Chipata First Level Hospital in Lusaka, was quick to defend her colleagues saying “midwives work under stressful conditions and in most instances are understaffed”.
Ms Kasonkolo said midwives have a strategy where they give priority to young girls who are in labour for the first time as opposed to a woman who has had a child before.
She stressed that people should not see midwives as ‘super heroes’ but rather as people capable of making mistakes too.
Conceivably, to bring sanity to the noble profession and career that has been in existence for decades but has been characterised with a bad name; the Midwives Association of Zambia (MAD) last week launched a campaign dubbed: Respectful Maternity Care.
This campaign is aimed at helping healthcare workers and midwives tackle disrespect and abuse that expectant mothers endure at some facilities during childbirth.
MAZ president Genevieve Musokwa said the campaign is timely as it will improve attitudes of midwives towards expectant mothers and encourage mothers to also accord respect to midwives.
Ms Musokwa noted with concern that although some expectant mothers attend antenatal classes they prefer not to deliver their babies from health facilities due to bad attitudes of some midwives.
She is of the view that “the bad attitude of some midwives has contributed to the high maternal and morbidity cases the country is still grappling with”.
The campaign will be rolled out this week to all midwives in Lusaka before it is taken to other provinces. Others expected to join in are cleaning staff who are also reported to have a bad attitude towards expectant mothers.
“Come Monday, we shall convene all midwives to a campaign meeting so that they understand what is required of their noble profession,” she said.
Ms Musokwa was quick to advise student midwives to join the profession not for the money but to save lives of mothers and children.
Additionally, Health Minister Joseph Kasonde commended MAZ for the initiative as it will promote care that is sensitive to social and cultural needs in the provision of maternal and neo-natal services.
He said the campaign is a step in the right direction and that his ministry will support and encourage it. However, he said there is need to improve communication between the community and midwives.
“We cannot blame midwives in totality but rather it is a communication strategy that we need between communities and midwives,” he said.
“We are looking seriously into improving the quality of care offered by our midwives by bettering the quality of midwifery education and regulation.”
Dr Kasonde said this will contribute to reducing maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality.
And Content Development expert at General Nursing Council David Mbewe said the public has the right to lodge complaints over the bad attitude of some midwives.
Mr Mbewe said once a complaint is lodged, investigations are instituted to gather evidence so that a midwife is disciplined according to law by being barred from participating in the council activities.
“Once a midwife is barred and removed from the register it is difficult for such a person to receive recommendation from us in case they want to pursue a different field,” he said.
He has since advised midwives to report any bad attitude exhibited by their colleagues to relevant authorities.
“Failure to report bad behaviour exhibited by your colleagues to relevant authorities is also tantamount to committing a similar offence,” Mr Mbewe stressed.
Senior registration officer at the Health Profession Council of Zambia Bwembya Bwalya said the campaign will re-create a good picture midwives are supposed to have; to save lives. He also reiterated calls for midwives to report incidences of bad behaviour rather than keeping quiet.
“It is better to stand out as a professional than follow bad eggs in the system. The bad attitude we see sometimes is a reflection that some midwives need to go back to school as they left the institutions years ago,” Mr Bwalya said.

Machel urges women to form networks

Founder of `New Faces, New Voices’ Graca Machel, says women should form strong networks to enable them influence change among policy makers.

Addressing the 3rd African Women’s Economic Empowerment Summit in Lusaka yesterday, Ms Machel noted that there were fragmented women’s organisations championing women issues which has resulted in women failing to speak with one voice.
Ms Machel said it was time women worked together because they can positively improve the quality of life in society when they have access to the right knowledge and support.
And Ms Machel said financial institutions need to scale up assistance to women so that they can make better contribution to development.
And Minister of Finance Alexander Chikwanda said that the marginalisation of women in any economy results in unsustainable development and failed social justice.
Mr Chikwanda said this yesterday during the official opening of the 3rd African Women’s Economic Empowerment Summit under the theme “African Women, Realising Africa’s Economic Potential” at Lusaka’s Mulungushi Conference Centre.
“There is need for us to empower our women by ensuring that we achieve more equality, more opportunities, more sustainable access to finance and resources and more gender balanced policies. Women are the drivers of economies at household level,” the Minister said.
Mr Chikwanda also observed that the theme of the conference, which closes today, is indicative of the cardinal step that the continent and the global community have taken towards realising the pivotal role women play in Africa’s emancipation agenda.
The international conference which is being spearheaded by the Ministry of Gender and Child Development started on Thursday.
Mr Chikwanda also commended Ms Machel for being courageous and demonstrating what women can achieve even when men doubted their ability.
He said “Ms Machel took the courage to walk into the biggest Pan African bank, the African Development, which accorded her attention on behalf of African women. We give her honour today for being an ardent pioneer for African women”.
Earlier Minister of Gender and Child Development Inonge Wina emphasized the need for women to be financially sound for them to move from being small and medium entrepreneurs to having big businesses.
Ms Wina is confident that women have the capacity to move the African economy forward if financial capital is made available to them.
And African Development Bank president Donald Kaberuka said the African continent needs a financial industry that is not financially greedy if women are to contribute to development.

Lack of financial framework affects women’s progress’

ZANACO chief executive officer Bruce Dick says lack of a policy framework in financial institutions has contributed to failure to advance women formal financial inclusion.

Mr Dick said the lack of a policy framework on women financial inclusion is forcing financial institutions to operate from the policy of equal access between men and women.
He also said lack of collateral is a challenge among women which has continued to prevent many from accessing finances.
Mr Dick was speaking during the plenary session at the African Women Economic Summit (AWES) which closed yesterday.
“As a bank we have ensured we train women on financial literacy for them to have that financial, education and business acumen,” he said.
Speaking earlier, Bank of Zambia deputy governor Tukiya Kankasa-Mabula said there is need to have interventions to ensure women financial inclusions.
Dr Mabula said financial institutions need to formulate policy on collateral as it has continued disadvantaging many women.
“From the participatory analysis we did, we discovered that women borrow for a greater need than men,” she said.
And National Bank of Rwanda vice governor Monique Nsanzagwana said advancing women financial inclusion requires political will.
Ms Nsanzagwana said that women financial inclusion has improved in her country due to a number of strategies her Government has put in place.
“We came up with strategies such as mobile banking, financial training, and a gender monitoring policy which have yielded greater results,” she said.

Help women get loans - Wina

By SITEMBILE SIWAWA
MINISTER of Gender and Child Development Inonge Wina has called on Bank of Zambia (BoZ) governor Michael Gondwe to impress upon financial institutions to make loans accessible to women for economic empowerment.

And International Labour Organisation (ILO) regional director for Africa Aeneas Chuma is concerned that lack of collateral is still the biggest reason why financial institutions do not lend to women entrepreneurs.
Speaking at the first ever National Women Economic Empowerment Summit Jubilee Expo in Lusaka yesterday, Ms Wina said financial institutions should create an enabling environment and formulate policies that will make loans accessible to women entrepreneurs.
The jubilee expo, which has attracted over 400 participants from across the country, is being held under the theme: Women as change agents for national development and prosperity.
“Empowering women with finances makes them assertive and brings about value addition to every trade they operate in,” Ms Wina said.
She also directed Lusaka City Council (LCC) to provide trading space to businesswomen.
“Currently, we are working with the Ministry of Lands, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Chiefs and Traditional Affairs to ensure that women acquire land, especially those in the rural areas,” Ms Wina said.
And Mr Chuma is confident that increasing women farmers’ productivity can substantially raise food production and reduce food insecurity.
“This is the main reason why ILO and other partners have mounted the cassava value chain exhibition here today.
“We are showing how a simple plant grown in most parts of Zambia can contribute to the economic empowerment of women through value chain addition,” he said.
And Dr Gondwe pledged to implement a number of activities to accelerate the realisation of women’s full economic potential by increasing opportunities to access critical financial investment.
Dr Gondwe said the central bank and key line ministries will reach out to decision-makers in the financial sector to open up opportunities for women which are critical to inclusive development.
Meanwhile, UN resident coordinator in Zambia Janet Rogan challenged Government to conduct a survey on the difference that grants have made in the lives of women entrepreneurs.
“For a very long time now, women have been given hand-outs in form of small grants but the question is how much difference have the small grants programmes made overall,” she said.

Chama records improved maternal health

DEPUTY Minister of Health Chitalu Chilufya is happy that Chama has recorded a reduction in maternal deaths due to first-class antenatal services being provided by Government at Chama District Hospital.

“I must commend the staff here for the great work they are doing and I am particularly happy because they are also following the 3Cs model of care, cleanliness and competence,” Dr Chilufya said.
He said this when he toured Chama District Hospital on Monday.
Dr Chilufya, however, said the maternity ward at Chama District Hospital should be expanded to accommodate more mothers.
Chama District Hospital medical officer Anthony Kamanzi said the construction of a maternity wing has helped to reduce maternal deaths in the area.
“We used to record 20 maternal deaths in a year but now we record less than 10 and most of those happen because some come in late,” Dr Kamanzi said.
And Patriotic Front (PF) Chama district Women’s League chairperson Esther Ng’uni appealed to Government to allocate funds to improve the maternity ward at Chama District Hospital to cater for the increasing population.
“We adopted this ward, which we clean every month, and not only do we clean but also lobby our members of Parliament who buy bathing basins for new babies,” she said.
And the construction of new Chama District Hospital at a cost of K20 million is almost complete.
Dr Chilufya said Chama District Hospital is expected to be completed before September and it will be a Golden Jubilee independence anniversary gift to the residents.
“The catchment population of Chama district is 135,000 and the building of the new hospital will decongest old Chama District Hospital,” Dr Chilufya said.

Kampyongo wants revision of Termination of Preganancy Act

SHIWANG’ANDU member of Parliament Stephen Kampyongo (left) and his Bweengwa counterpart Highvie Hamududu listen to Chileshe Mwansa, a volunteer at Youth Friendly Corner at Chelstone Clinic elaborating on unsafe abortions among youths. This was during a youth-policy maker dialogue held in Lusaka recently - Picture by SITEMBILE SIWAWA.


By SITEMBILE SIWAWA and DOREEN NAWA
HOME Affairs deputy minister Stephen Kampyongo has called for the revision of the Termination of Pregnancy Act No. 26 of 1972.
Mr Kampyongo who is also Shiwang’andu member of Parliament (MP) and a member of the Zambia All Party Parliamentary Group on Population and Development (ZAPPD) said the Act is a challenge in rural areas including his constituency.

“In rural areas where clinics are far away and may not even have three medical practitioners, this is an impossible requirement to comply with. This has serious implications for access to safe abortion, especially if the untrained personnel have negative attitudes towards abortion,” Mr Kampyongo said.
The deputy minister said in rural areas, most health centres have serious staff and equipment shortages and are unable to provide a basic package of primary healthcare services or provide 24 hours coverage.
Mr Kampyongo was speaking during the Youth-Policy Maker Dialogue meeting organised by IPAS Zambia recently.
The TOP Act requires that three medical practitioners must authorise an abortion and that one of the medical practitioners must be a specialist in the branch of medicine in the event that the pregnant patient may need to be examined in mental or physical health.
Earlier ZAPPD chairperson Highvie Hamududu, called for the introduction of contraceptives among the adolescents to prevent unintended pregnancies.
Mr Hamududu said denying adolescents contraceptives has an adverse impact on national development.
“We cannot hide the reality about adolescents getting involved in sexual activities and the best we can do now is to introduce preventive measures. Time is now so that we prevent future disaster where girls do not complete school because of early pregnancies,” Mr Hamududu.
Mr Hamududu who is also Bweengwa MP said a strong foundation of any nation is dependant of its youthful population.
And Mazabuka Central MP Gary Nkombo said youths have been left with fewer options to prevent pregnancies which has resulted in many of them seeking unconventional methods of aborting.
Mr Nkombo said there was need to come up with long lasting preventive measures to avoid unsafe abortions among adolescents.
ZAPPD consists of parliamentarians aimed at providing a forum for discussion by MPs and interested organisations on population, development and reproductive health rights and issues.

We’ll enact gender equality law - MPs

MEMBERS of Parliament (MPs) have pledged to enact the Gender Equality Bill into law once it’s presented to Parliament.
Government is currently formulating the gender equality bill with a view of addressing injustices against women in the country.

In an interview with Femail, Mwandi member of Parliament Michael Kaingu said the formulation and enactment of the Gender Equality Bill is timely as it will see the eventual domestication of international instruments Zambia is signatory to.
Mr Kaingu said Zambia has of late seen an increase in the cases of gender inequalities such as poverty, limited access to tertiary education by female youths and gender based violence.
He said “the Gender Equality Bill once made into law will also greatly benefit rural women who usually have no one to speak for them.”
And Bweengwa parliamentarian Highvie Hamududu reiterated calls for the enactment of the Gender Equality Bill.
Mr Hamududu added that gender inequalities have subsequently seen programmes like the farming input support programme being dominated by males.
He said women should be given access to farming inputs including land because they are the major producers of food.
“We believe this law will bring equality and sanity in the way things are run in this country and I believe any legislator will support such a progressive bill into law,” he said.
And he has since called on all MPs to support the bill once it gets to Parliament.

Male circumcision increases by 6%

UP TO 98,000 males aged between 15 and 49 were circumcised between January and April this year, recording a 40 percent increase compared to 34 percent during the same period in 2013, National Voluntary Male Circumcision (NVMC) coordinator Albert Kaonga has said.

The NVMC has also disclosed that 800,000 males have up to date been circumcised since the programme started in 2007. Dr Kaonga said this in an interview with Femail during the week.
Dr Kaonga has attributed the increase in the number of males getting circumcised to the integration of male circumcision programme into health services provided in all health centres.
“We have extended our April campaigns to September this year in order to reach our target of circumcising 1.9 million HIV negative males by 2015. People are now having a sense of ownership of the male circumcision programme, they have realised that it is one of the key drivers in the fight against HIV/AIDS,” Dr Kaonga said.
He also said Copperbelt has continued to record the highest number in males requesting circumcision services followed by Lusaka.
Dr Kaonga said 80,000 male infants were circumcised between 2010 and 2013.
He also said Government has no intention of making male circumcision mandatory and compulsory in new born males because this is voluntary service.
He has since called on traditional rulers to encourage their male subjects to seek circumcision services, adding that circumcision programmes can only be scaled-up if more traditional rulers get on board and sensitise their subjects on their importance.