adminAbel Dzobo and Monica Cheru-Mpambawashe
October 11 marked the fourth international commemoration of the Day of the Girl Child. This year’s theme focuses on adolescent girls and the Sustainable Development Goals, which set a range of international targets, including on gender equality, to be achieved by 2030.
From a global point of view, more than a 100 years after the Suffragettes marked the beginning of the fight for women’s emancipation, the girl child in some places seems to be still a long way from gaining gender equality.
Female genital mutilation, sexual assault, economic side-lining, hard physical labour, social oppression and bearing the brunt of wars and disease are just some of the challenges faced by millions of women across the world.
In comparison the Zimbabwean girl seems to be in a much better than peers. She does not have to suffer through the cutting off of her labia as in some African countries. Statistics show that access to education is practically equal with school dropout rates being within a two percent margin difference for boys and girls. There are many successful women role models across sectors that she can focus on for inspiration. She has access to tertiary education and will get equal pay for the same job with her male counterpart.
A rosy picture, until you scratch the surface. There are still a lot of gaps when it comes to general child and youth welfare and gender inequalities exist. Some of these were captured by 200 girls from Chipinge, Mbire and Chiredzi who travelled to Harare prior to the Day of the Girl Child to present a 10-point petition which they want Government to implement.
Dubbed the “Mwanasikana Nzwika! Girl Child Be Heard Festival”, the Katswe Sistahood-organised girl and women’s rights fete saw young girls finding and amplifying their voices as they sought to change a world which for centuries has been skewed against them.
The Nzwika Festival, which is supported by H4+ climaxed when the girls presented their 10-point petition to Mr Ernest Chimboza, who was representing the Minister of Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development, in the form of two booklets.
Among the demands that were specific to the girl child was the request for girl-friendly schools that provide sanitary pads for free to girls such that they would not have to abscond school while having their periods.
Child marriages are not only about arrangement marriages in which young girls are forced to marry older man. Some young people end up ‘choosing’ to get married because their options are severely limited, pointed out one of the stakeholders:
“Because they do not have sanitary pads, a girl misses five to six days of school per month, so her academic performance declines, and soon an early marriage is the only option,” said Katswe Sistahood Director Talent Jumo.
In response to similar cries which are not new Coca Cola Central Africa has built bathing facilities in some schools in Mutasa district of Manicaland Province.
The girls also highlighted every child’s constitutional right to free basic education. Said a Jerezi Secondary School student: “School authorities are sending debt collectors to parents of children whose fees are outstanding. They should know they are forcing some girls here to voluntarily drop out of schools, and opt for marriage, so that the little property that their parents have will not be taken away.”
The ninth issue on the petition is “Mobile Birth Registration”, and the girls are saying lack of identity documents is denying them their full citizenship rights.
The people in Matedzi have no registration offices in their area or near them, with the nearest being in Chiredzi town, a journey that costs $5, which is too expensive.
The last demand is, “Realign Laws to the New Constitution”. “The Constitution says 18 years is the minimum age of consent for a girl to get married, yet the law says 16. This is leaving girls open to abuse,” said a Chipinge delegate.
The Government and civil society partners are currently seized policies to end child marriages in the country.
Beyond direct speeches and the booklets, the girls used art to tell their stories. Delegates, among them from the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Gender and Community Development, UNWomen UNICEF, Zimbabwe National Network of People Living with HIV, Women’s Action Group and councillors from Chiredzi, Chipinge and Mbire were treated to a boutique of poetry, speeches, drama, song and dance as the girls conveyed their challenges, frustrations, dreams and aspirations.
Among the songs, “I have a ball” and “Don’t Touch” proved to be the crowd favourites.
Mbire Primary school had delegates mesmerised with their electric Jerusarema/Mbende dance moves. Chipinge had a pantomime dance troupe, guided by a drummer that ushered in novelty.
Another notch on Chipinge’s hat was the deep Ndau accent, which ushered in an aura of rustic purity, and bestowing authenticity upon the Nzwika Festival.
Online Reporter