MEDIA, CHIEFS URGED TO JOIN FORCES IN THE FIGHT AGAINST GBV

By Kenson McCloud 

Minister of gender, community development and social welfare has emphasised the need for all stakeholders to join forces in the fight against Gender Based Violence.

The minister responsible Patricia Kaliati said this on the side-lines of a National Conference organised by Luntha Television to address issues of gender based violence and inequality.

Earlier this year Luntha Television also introduced projects to end gender based violence, child marriages and economic inequalities in the country as a responsive intervention towards ending the fight.

The projects were being implemented in the areas of traditional authorities Chilooko and Kalumo in Ntchisi and Mangochi districts.

After a successfully implementing the projects in the two districts, Luntha TV therefore organised a Media Voices For Inclusive Development Conference to report on the progress made so far.

Kaliati who was the guest of honour at the conference commended the organisers for complementing government efforts in the fight against gender based violence.

Kaliati said, "This is a clear testimony of how progressive the fight could be if all relevant stakeholders joined hands to address gender based violence and inequality."

The minister also observed that although efforts are being made but there is still a long way to go to completely address the vice in the country.

"One of the contributing factors to this, is the fact that most women are not financially empowered which leaves them vulnerable to abuse." said Kaliati.

Although she acknowledges the presence of violence against men but the minister insisted that statistics indicates that men are predominantly perpetrators of violence.

In his remarks Executive Director for Luntha Television, Father David Niwagaba, expressed concern over the immensity of cases of gender based violence and inequality the country has registered in the year ending.

He further said inequality in distribution of resources in some districts is still an area of concern.

He cited Mangochi one of their impact areas where people are travelling over 40 Kilometres to access health care services.

On his part, Traditional Authority Chilooko of Ntchisi commended the coming of different organisation in his area for helping abridge cases of child marriages where they used to be rampant in the past.

"As a leader, I ordered my subject chiefs never to allow any child get married before the legal age, and I will remove from chieftainship anyone who tries to breach the pact." threatened Chilooko.

So far three chiefs under T/A Chilooko have been removed recently for not adhering to the warning.