Friday, December 21, 2012
Over 20 sex workers set for vocational training
Elias Banda
29 rehabilitated sex workers aged between 18 and 30 are now set to undergo various vocational trades under the auspices of Center for Youth Rehabilitation CYR in Blantyre. The development emerged after CYR was featured on ADRA Malawi sponsored Zatonse Radio Program in March and October this year.
According to Marko Chipwaila, CYR Executive Director his organization received positive response from organizations and individuals after the radio program, including the National AIDS Commission (NAC) which offered to sponsor the 29 sex workers through the Technical Enterprise and Vocational Training Authority (TEVET).
Mr Chipwaila said the sex workers would undergo trades such plumbing, tailoring, electrical installations, hair dressing, carpentry, refrigeration and bricklaying which he said would transform them into meaningful citizens of this country.
The trainings start on December 27 and would go on for the next three months.
CYR was formed in 2009 with the aim of rehabilitating, promoting and protecting the Malawian youths through psycho-socio, economic and spiritual programs in Blantyre, Zomba and Mulanje districts.
In September this year, CYR collaborated with Blantyre City Council and launched a sensitization campaign in Blantyre townships, targeting sex workers. During the campaign, 72 sex workers were identified and 10 of them were vulnerable youths.
Zatonse Radio platform is sponsored by ADRA Malawi through the Action for Change Program which is being supported by Denmark to bring about society and individual change in Malawi.
Friday, December 7, 2012
ADRA Malawi heads GBV Committee in Mulanje
By Elias Banda
ADRA Malawi through the Enhanced Livelihood and Gender Empowerment (ELGE) Project is currently chairing the technical committee on Gender Based Violence (GBV) in the district ahead of the event marking the winding of activities marking 16 days of Activism against Gender Violence.
I6 days of Activism against Gender violence is a global campaign that highlights the plight of women and calls for action to end all forms of gender related violence. The event, which connects between women, violence and human rights was launched on November 25 and will end on December 10.
According to Andiyesa Mhango, ELGE Project Manager, the GBV committee is focusing on rising awareness on highly reported GBV cases in the district. She said that common among GBV cases are wife abandonment and rape.
She said that Mulanje District is alarmed with cases where men are abandoning their wives for no valid reasons, making them desperate to survive. She said that this has been quoted as a form of violence because many women depend on marriage for survival and the abandonment makes them vulnerable to HIV/AIDS.
Andiyesa also said that rape cases are higher in the district but hinted that the most common form of rape is that which involves younger girls. She said that there is a common belief that if a man rapes a younger girl, he would succeed in cutting and selling good timber from Mulanje Mountain. Timber selling is currently hot business in the district and men have gone on rampage, raping girls in order to prosper in business.
In the wake of the event, ADRA Malawi and partners are sensitizing community members in the district. Recently, ADRA Malawi, through Action for Social Change Program (ASC) facilitated capacity building for civil society actors in the district to map out a strategy on the campaign.
The event ending 16 days of activisms will take place in Mulanje on December 18. The event will be characterized by speeches, drama, testimonies, dances and songs.
The ELGE Project is supported by the Sweden and ASC program is funded by Denmark to bring about individual and society change in Mulanje District. The ELGE Project is being implemented in Traditional Authority Chikumbu while ASC program is targeting communities in Traditional Authority Juma.
I6 days of Activism against Gender violence is a global campaign that highlights the plight of women and calls for action to end all forms of gender related violence. The event, which connects between women, violence and human rights was launched on November 25 and will end on December 10.
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| women are victims of wife abandoning in Mulanje |
According to Andiyesa Mhango, ELGE Project Manager, the GBV committee is focusing on rising awareness on highly reported GBV cases in the district. She said that common among GBV cases are wife abandonment and rape.
She said that Mulanje District is alarmed with cases where men are abandoning their wives for no valid reasons, making them desperate to survive. She said that this has been quoted as a form of violence because many women depend on marriage for survival and the abandonment makes them vulnerable to HIV/AIDS.
Andiyesa also said that rape cases are higher in the district but hinted that the most common form of rape is that which involves younger girls. She said that there is a common belief that if a man rapes a younger girl, he would succeed in cutting and selling good timber from Mulanje Mountain. Timber selling is currently hot business in the district and men have gone on rampage, raping girls in order to prosper in business.
In the wake of the event, ADRA Malawi and partners are sensitizing community members in the district. Recently, ADRA Malawi, through Action for Social Change Program (ASC) facilitated capacity building for civil society actors in the district to map out a strategy on the campaign.
The event ending 16 days of activisms will take place in Mulanje on December 18. The event will be characterized by speeches, drama, testimonies, dances and songs.
The ELGE Project is supported by the Sweden and ASC program is funded by Denmark to bring about individual and society change in Mulanje District. The ELGE Project is being implemented in Traditional Authority Chikumbu while ASC program is targeting communities in Traditional Authority Juma.
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