Posts Tagged ‘zambia’
By Brenda Zulu
Zambia Media Women Association (ZAMWA) will hold a series of radio programs from September 18 to December 2010 on child sexual abuse to create awareness and sensitise the public on the magnitude of the problem in the country and how it can be prevented and managed. The programs will air on Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation Radio Two with special focus on the girl child.
Statistics show that when it comes to child abuse, girls are the most vulnerable and most affected . The risk and consequences of HIV infection, unwanted pregnancies and physical and psychological trauma should draw international and national attention to this silent emergency. The silence should be broken through advocacy, education and addressing the negative cultural, religious and social beliefs that perpetuate this crime.
The radio programs are part of a wider campaign by ZAMWA in collaboration with Equality Now, an International organisation that promotes human rights but with special interest in women and children’s rights. Zambia, together with several African countries has taken some steps to address women and children’s rights by signing International instruments such as the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women [CEDAW] and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
The role of Civil Society Organisations to combat sexual abuse in Zambia cannot be under estimated. However there is still more to be done and in order to succeed we need combined efforts. The programs will air every Saturday between 9- 10 hours in English language. Please contact us on zamwa@coopernet.zm
TAAAC’s Inception
Posted on: August 25, 2010
In 2006, a girl aged 13 was sexually abused by her teacher at a known school in Lusaka, Zambia. The minor and her guardian sued the teacher, along with the school and the Zambian Ministry of Education. This case attracted public attention and was followed closely by many people both locally and outside the country. On June 30th, 2008, the presiding Judge, Philip Musonda delivered a judgment in the High Court of Zambia in which the victim was awarded K45 million Kwacha (about $13 000) as compensation.
Justice Musonda made the following telling observation:
“The government is responsible for all school going children in the care of its agents — such as teachers, school authorities and any other person in it’s employment during the time the schools are in session,”
This case became one of the few that have held government accountable for its obligations to the African Union’s Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa to which Zambia is a signatory. The case has been hailed as a landmark judgement for the bold step taken by the Judge who held the Government liable for the violation of the girl Child in school and the state was asked to award damages.
The plight of this girl child was followed with keen interest by Equality Now, an organisation that works with national human rights organizations and individual activists to documents violence and discrimination against women and mobilizes international action to support their efforts to stop these human rights abuses. Equality Now saw this case as an appropriate advocacy tool for effecting the necessary change in Zambia and convened and strategised with various civil society organisations in Zambia to develop a program to address violence against girls by teachers.
After a few consultative meetings with Equality Now, some Zambian civil society organisations saw the need to form a coalition. In the formative stages of this coalition, Sara Longwe, a renowned Human Rights Activist played a critical role, offering her wealth of experience in conjunction with the NGOCC that hosted most of the coalition meetings.
Since its inception, the coalition has developed a multi-faceted approach to fight violence against girls, under the banner of “Our girls, our future: building synergy to end violence against girls in Zambia,” using funds from the UN Trust Fund. This intiative is focused on securing justice for girls who experience sexual abuse and strengthen the national legal framework to address violence against women and girls.
In January, 2010 Equality Now hired a Consultant (TAAAC Coordinator), Shupe Makashinyi to coordinate the activities of the coalition. The coalition was officially launched on February 18th, 2010, at a colourful and well attended cocktail held at the Southern Sun Hotel in Lusaka.
The launch was preceded by the coalition building workshop which was attended by all implementing partners, and three members of staff from the lead implementing agency, Equality Now: Yasmeen Hassan, Director of Programmes (New York office); Faiza Mohamed, Director of Programmes (Nairobi office), and Muthoni Muriithi, Programme Officer (Nairobi office). The Country Director of Population Council, Dr. Jill Keesbury (see picture below), also attended the workshop to explain Population Council’s responsibility of monitoring and evaluating the coalition’s activities.
Among the people who attended the official launch were Hon. Richard Taima, Deputy Minister of Education, Hon. Lucy Changwe, Deputy Minister for Gender, her Lordship Deputy Chief Justice, Irene Mambilima, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services, Mr. Ngosa Chisupa, NGO Directors, senior officials from the Ministry of Health and the Zambia Police Service, and other valuable stakeholders. (The three Equality Now Staff members, from left to right Muthoni, Yasmeen and Faiza)
Although the problem of sexual abuse of adolescent girls in Zambia has been growing at a very fireghtening rate, it is gratifying to note that there has also been a growing recognition of the need to safeguard the rights of adolescent girls and to ensure that interventions are centred on the concerns of these girls. This is what the coalition is seeking to do for the girl child in Zambia.
TAAAC Zambia 