Empowering girls in Zimbabwe
steps for children works together with Stiftung Hilfe mit Plan and Plan International to empower girls in particular through measures that prevent child marriage, enable education and career prospects, provide awareness-raising and violence prevention, and support young women and families in making proper use of income-generating initiatives. As a result, last year, 100 disadvantaged children were able to attend school because their school fees were covered, and training was provided for 65 teachers and 150 school administrators.
To empower girls in Zimbabwe, these measures are extremely important, because 34 % of girls are married before their 18th birthday, and many of them become pregnant shortly afterwards.* This often results in dropping out of school, which in turn significantly reduces the chance of having career prospects. In the project region of Mutare and Mutasa in Manicland Province this problem is obvious and worsened especially as a result of the pandemic – the many school closures led to high rates of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.
This now requires a general dismantling of the social norms and traditions recognised locally and the enforcement of child protection structures. The reasons are varied, but above all financial hardship influences the decision to enter a child marriage.
Through awareness campaigns for parents, we try to raise awareness of the negative consequences of marrying too early and teenage pregnancies. This also includes explanations in parent groups about positive parenting methods.
Teacher training includes first-aid courses, highlighting existing laws against child marriage and developing a deeper understanding of them, as well as the fact that school administrators are obliged to support pregnant girls in being able to continue their education at another school if they do not wish to continue learning at their current school.
Empower girls in Zimbabwe – AGAINST child marriage and dropping out of school.
We are taking measures aimed at preventing child marriage…
…through teacher training and awareness campaigns for parents.
An awareness campaign costs 440 €
Training for several teachers costs 5.122 €
*UNICEF-Report 2021
