National News

Nice in GBV fight

National Initiative for Civic Education (Nice) Trust has launched a campaign against gender-based violence (GBV) in Nkhata Bay.

The campaign follows the rise in GBV cases in the district.

In an interview, Nkhata Bay district civic education officer Lucy Kalua said they wanted to protect women and girls from abuse.

She said: “If a girl has been sexually assaulted, she gets disturbed and drops out of school.

A cross-section of the participants

“So, we want to work with people to safeguard the welfare of women and girls.”

On her part, Nkhata Bay district gender officer Cecilia Kaunda said Nice will implement the campaign in Upper Zilakoma and Traditional Authority Mnyaluwanga where GBV cases were on the rise.

She said: “Upper Zilakoma has few partners implementing GBV projects because it is a hard-to-reach area.

“We expect Nice to engage all stakeholders in the two areas on the vice.”

In his remarks, Youngson Ngwira, who spoke on behalf of Nkhata Bay District GBV technical working group, said the coming of Nice will enhance the fight against GBV in the district.

In random interviews with people from the two areas, they commended the campaign, saying it will help end child marriages.

A community member, Jonathan Msuku, asked traditional leaders to embrace the campaign to overcome the vice. 

“We were only seeing Nice on issues to do with elections, but we are pleased that they have joined the fight against GBV,” he said.

The campaign, implemented under the Spotlight Initiative, runs from May to June this year with K7 million funding from UN Women.

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