Stakeholders from Dedza have requested YONECO to scale up its various interventions to all parts of the district citing the great impact which the organization has made in some targeted impact areas under Action for Teen Mothers and Adolescent Girls Project.
The Social Welfare Officer for the district, Kapuchi, indicated that there have been a number of positive changes at community level that are directly related to what YONECO has been implementing. Among other things, Kapuchi stated that there has been an increase in the number of Gender Based Violence (GBV) cases that are being reported to his office and other reporting mechanisms due to various awareness campaigns which YONECO strategically lined up within the reporting period.
“Within a period of three months, a total of 80 GBV and child abuse cases were reported and 21 child marriages were also annulled,” explained the District Social Welfare Officer for Dedza.
The sentiments were also echoed by traditional leaders, officials from Dedza District Youth Office who also bemoaned the fact that the project activities are only being impended in three areas despite the fact that most of the problems are being encountered in all parts of the district.
Action for Teen Mothers and Adolescent Girls Project is being implemented in Dedza and Mchinji districts with funding from UFPA. In Dedza, the project is being implemented in the areas of Traditional Authority (T/A) Kaphuka, Kachere and Chilikumwendo.
The key objective of the project is to increase adolescent girls’ access to integrated adolescent-friendly sexual and reproductive health services, including family planning as well as support on GBV.
