About 1175 young girls in Nkhata Bay have completed a six-month mentorship training in gender-based violence (GBV), harmful practices (HP), sexual reproductive health (SRH) and village saving loans (VSL) courtesy of Girls Empowerment Network (GENET).

GENET District Coordinator, Julie Msosa said the girls are trained in what we call safe spaces where young girls come together to share their experiences and learn what gender-based violence is and their responsibility in speaking out and reporting GBV.

“This is done under the guidance of their fellow young woman whom we call mentor and the current cohort was recruited last year (2020) and as they have graduated from safe spaces, new girls will be enrolled ,” said Msosa.

She added that one major stride GENET made was to facilitate formation of clubs for the girls where they were given grants and basic training in financial management and the mentees who graduated over the weekend were from eight traditional authorities of Mankhambira, M’bwana, Zilakoma, Fukamalaza, Fukamapiri, Timbiri, Mnyaluwanga, Zilakoma and Kabunduli.

Seventeen-year-old Maggie Chirwa of Traditional Authority Mankhambira in the district is one of the mentees who graduated from safe space last Saturday. She said the grant has been a big push as it enabled her to go back to school.

The programme is funded by UNFPA through Spotlight Initiative which aims at eliminating violence against women and girls.