CHICOSUDO and the Fight to End Child Marriage in Malawi

Lesley Kapile raising awareness during a speaking event

Chitani Community Sustainable Development Organization (CHICOSUDO), operating out of Malawi, has made great strides in the second half of their campaign End Child Marriage Now!!! Protect Her Rights, which strives to prevent 500 child marriages from happening before March, 2021 by advocating for policies that would prevent such marriages. The goal of this project is not just to prevent these marriages from a legal standpoint, but to change hearts and minds within communities, and to empower young girls, both through the dissemination of education and by enabling them to have the freedom to fully enjoy their childhood.

Since our last update, CHICOSUDO has:

• Successfully halted three child marriages

• Sent six young girls who were arranged to be married back to school

• Involved men in the communities to work as Protectors for these young girls

• Convinced traditional community leaders to champion this cause and to advocate for changes to be made in community bylaws. 

Men from the community training to serve as Protectors for young girls at risk of entering child marriages.

By focusing not only on legislation, but by turning attention toward community engagement and education, CHICOSUDO has sucessfully influenced grassroots cultural shifts in attitude toward child marriage. CHICOSUDO is able not only to work on intervening in and preventing these marriages, but facilitates the girls themselves in becoming advocates against it within their own communities. 

Education has always been a big part of this campaign. Efforts on this front are primarily focused on teaching young women and girls about female sexual and reproductive health and safety, and how to prevent unintentional pregnancy. This is a priority because it helps to fight misinformation, and arms young girls with the knowledge they need to exercise their bodily autonomy, and to be safe. CHICOSUDO was successfully able to reach 155 girls from 18 youth groups and provide access to crucial reproductive educational information. In 2020, however, no public health campaign could be carried out without considerations made for COVID-19, and this one was no exception. In kind, some of CHICOSUDO’s health advocacy expanded to include reliable, consistent, and factual information about how to deter the spread of the COVID-19 virus. These educational efforts, much like the legislative ones, are centered within communities. A door-to-door COVID-19 prevention campaign was carried out and more than 3,500 people were reached with urgently needed information. 

Though 2020 is over, CHICOSUDO’s campaign will continue through the first quarter of 2021. We will leave you with a few words from their Board Chairperson, Brenda Nachuma.

“As we are entering 2021, don’t let us [be] alone. We expect more from you so that more lives of women and children may change. Youth and women should gain skills for self-reliance, girls should be free from any form of violence…”

Access to Education for Girls in Thanda Pani, Pakistan

Village Thanda Pani is located in District Neelum along the Line of Control (LoC) approximately 135km upstream from Muzzafarabad, near village Dodnial. Thanda Pani is one of the most populated villages in the Neelum district with the fewest educational facilities, particularly for girls. Since Thanda Pana is so close to the line of control, it is a low priority for the government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). There is extremely limited access. Currently, there are 2 primary schools for boys with none existing for girls. The existing schools are already overcrowded and due to persistent cultural norms, most inhabitants of Thanda Pani are against co-education so girls are not allowed to attend classes with boys.

Education is key to improved quality of life and female empowerment. The gender gap in Thanda Pani is widest in levels of literacy, school enrollment, dropout rates, and vocational training opportunities. While cultural norms exist around co-education, the population of Thanda Pani is not completely against young girls gaining an education. Findings of focus group discussions led by Community Services Program (CSP) in Thanda Pani revealed that 70-75% of school-age girls are not attending school primarily because of the lack of a facility.

CSP is proposing to create a branch of the Tine Girls Model School in Thanda Pani. CSP has located a facility to be rented as a girls’ primary school. The community will contribute to the rent. Teachers have been found in an adjacent village. The creation of this primary school will lower early marriage rates, empower the girls from a young age, and fight against the patriarchal norms in society.

First Activity of the End Child Marriage Now!!! Protect Her Rights Project with CHICOSUDO

Chitani Community Sustainable Development Organization (CHICOSUDO) received funds in September for the End Child Marriage Now!!! Protect Her Rights project. We received a report from Leslie Kapile, Programs Manager for CHICOSUDO, about the first activity conducted earlier this month.

CHICOSUDO organized a community awareness event where youth, particularly girls and boys from 12 to 17 years old, were engaged. The meeting focused on disseminating information on sexual reproductive health and rights, the importance of education, and dispersing school materials, including notebooks, pens, and soap. A total of 30 youths, 10 boys and 20 girls, benefitted from the first event.

Aginess speaking with excitement to the CHICOSUDO Programs Manager, Lesley Kapile, about the project.

Aginess, a girl in Primary Seven at Pasani Primary School, expressed her happiness at having access to sexual reproductive health information and what her rights are. To her, the awareness was an eye-opener as access to such information remains a challenge in the local area of Ntonya. She also appreciated receiving school materials. 

The awareness meeting was attended by the key leaders, including the Chambe Ward Councilor, Child Protection Worker, Group Village Headman of Ntonya, Head Teachers from the Pasani and Sukayakwe Primary Schools. The Ward Councilor was happy with the approach stating, “We cannot end child marriages if we do not meet the needs of the girl child and in the absence of boys.” The Group Village Headman of Ntonya promised to engage the eleven remaining traditional leaders to promote education for girls in their respective villages and reinforce community bylaws that protect the girl child from any form of gender-based violence. He said, “We will adopt the community court and continue to strengthen our links with child protection workers, the victim support unit, and the government through the District of Ntonya’s community-based organization.”

Child marriage is a prominent issue that has negative impacts that range throughout the lifetimes of the girl child. Bridget Mkomo, CHICOSUDO Project Officer, explained that the idea of engaging girls at risk with information and support before they return to school from the long-term COVID-19 closure would help them remember the importance of education and empower them. She then added, “the CHICOSUDO campaign will continue to strengthen the capacities of traditional leaders, teachers, parents and other key leaders in the community to ensure that community bylaws are enforced thereby protecting the sexual reproductive health rights for adolescents and girls in the area and beyond. At the same time, through the campaign, adolescent and girls will be empowered to speak out and report any case of abuse if happen. We expect to reach 11 villages.”

Rockflower Partners with the AVAZ Association to Establish a Women's Technology Education Center in Turkey

Rockflower is pleased to announce a new partnership with the AVAZ Association. They aim to support the refugees in the region and the local people in need to access to permanent income sources and social rights, and to open alternative ways for those to integrate better into the society.

Rockflower will provide the funding to establish a women’s technology education centre where refugee and local women and girls will be trained in multiple computer-related programmes.

Find out more about the Establish Women's Technology Education Center Project.