CHIEF Chamuka of the Lenje people in Central Province has proposed to the new Dawn Government to consider reviewing the re-entry policy that allowed pregnant girls to return to school after giving birth.
The traditional leader said there was need to strengthen the re-entry policy by attaching a scholarship component that will financially support girls with learning materials and school fees to remain in school.
Chief Chamuka said without financial support the young mothers were at risk of going back into the communities, thereby reversing gains made in the fight against child marriages and teenage pregnancies.
Speaking when he and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) deputy Resident Representative Roland Seri and other officials toured Chamuka village One Stop Anti-Gender Based Violence (GBV) community center, Chief Chamuka said 45 young mothers and other vulnerable children had so far returned to school through the re-entry policy.
“I am proposing to the Government to strengthen the re-entry policy by attaching a scholarship component so that girls who go back to school after giving birth are supported with learning material and other incentives to prevent them from going back into the communities,” he said.
And the traditional leader said since the establishment of the One Stop Centre in his chiefdom, there has been a reduction in the number of GBV cases with about 56 cases recorded between May and September this year compared to 200 documented last year in the same period under review.
Chief Chamuka said the response from community members and other stakeholders to clamp down GBV cases was overwhelming.
He said with increased sensitisation, he was anticipating zero cases of child marriages and teenage pregnancies in the next five year with support from stakeholders such as UNDP.
He further said he had also established and registered a chiefdom development trust fund that would mobilise resources to ensure sustainability of projects at the center and also address some of the challenges being faced in communities
UNDP deputy resident representative Roland Seri assured the traditional leader of continued support towards the fight against GBV.
Mr. Seri said reducing GBV cases in communities required collective efforts by all stakeholders.
And one of the beneficiaries of the re-entry policy Mavis Ngolofwana thanked the Government for sending her back to school after giving birth to her first child.
