The training is part of the UN Trust Fund activities under the "Our Girls, Our Future, Building Synergy to end Violence against Adolescent Girls in Zambia" project. The focus of the training was to enhance awareness-raising and attention in the media to issues related to sexual violence against adolescent girls in Zambia. Some of the topics covered in the training included an overview of Sexual Violence Against Girls (SVAG) which was presented by Chali Selisho from Population Council; Exploring the National and Regional Legal Instruments in Addressing SVAG and SVAG: Challenges and Opportunities.
The training was graced by the Minister of Education, Honorable Dora Siliya, (see picture below) who gave a directive to the Provincial Education Officers and District Education Board Secretaries that no male teacher was to conduct tuition for girls from their homes as they were using this to lure girls into sexual activities. She said no male teacher was to ask girls into their homes regardless of the favor.
This is a directive I am making to all PEOs and DEBs, that no tuition should be conducted in teachers' homes. I will make sure all school managers adhere to this directive. Some male teachers sexually abuse several female pupils when they go for these tuitions in homes because these young girls are vulnerable.
It is the Coalition's hope that this directive will be stringently enforced and turn our schools into safer environments for the girls.
The TAAAC Coordinator, Shupe C. Makashinyi, in her closing remarks on the last day of the training, called on the journalists to scale up the efforts of prodding the consciences of the public and raising awareness of this problem by highlighting the damaging effects that sexual violence against girls has on adolescent girls.
Below is the full text of Shupe's closing remarks:
Closing Remarks on the ZAMWA Journalists’ Training, August 11th, 2010
Shupe C. Makashinyi (TAAAC Coordinator)
It is my rare honour and privilege to address you on the final day of what I believe has been a very successful and informative training programme organised by ZAMWA, one of the implementing partners in the Coalition. As media practitioners, I know you are aware of your key and strategic role in shaping public perceptions and opinions about significant social issues affecting society. It is widely accepted that what we know about, think about and believe about what happens in the world, outside of personal first-hand experience, is shaped by how these events are reported in newspapers and communicated through the medium of radio, television and the internet. The public learns about how much importance to attach to a topic on the basis of the emphasis placed on it in the news. And you provide those clues to the general public about the salience of the topics in the daily news. This may be through a lead story on the front, large headlines, the opening story on the newscast, length of time devoted to the story, etc. These cues repeated day after day effectively communicate the importance of each topic.
One of the urgent topics that require constant and consistent media coverage is that of sexual violence against adolescent girls in our schools. Sexual violence is a gross violation of children’s rights, and in the words of the former UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman, it is “a moral and ethical outrage and an assault on the world’s conscience.” This problem, among other things, leads to lost childhoods, abandoned education, physical and emotional problems, the spread of HIV, and an often irrevocable loss of dignity and self-esteem.
While it is generally known that sexual violence against girls is a global problem, very limited information and statistics on the extent of this problem are available in developing countries such as Zambia. And that’s the more reason why the UN Trust Fund was quick to fund this project in Zambia through the key implementing partner, Equality Now. And one of the crucial components of this project is enhanced awareness and attention in the media to issues related to sexual violence against adolescent girls.
This training was designed to increase the capacity of journalists to report on issues of sexual violence against girls. But as you know, reporting alone is not enough. Giving of facts and statistics alone is not sufficient. There is a need for a deliberate agenda that seeks to prod the conscience of the public and raise awareness of the problem by highlighting the damaging effects that this problem has on adolescent girls. The public needs to be sensitised to the reality of the problem and its telling consequences, not only on the victims, but also the terrible loss on the part of the perpetrators once apprehended and tried in the courts of law.
WAY FORWARD
1. There is need for improved synergy in reaching the goals of this project.
2. There is need for more media coverage of the activities of other implementing partners in the Coalition.
3. There is need for effective use of the Internet. The Coalition has set up a Blog (www.taaaczambia.blogspot.com) which we need to keep active all the time. Plans are underway to set up a website so we will be counting on you scribes to play the critical role of advocacy by contributing articles and news content which will be posted on the blog and website.
In conclusion, I would like to thank the following: ZAMWA for a splendid job in organising this training; I also wish to thank our facilitators who have done a commendable job, and of course I shouldn’t forget to thank all of you our valued participants for taking time off your busy and demanding profession to attend this training. I will be failing in my duties if I did not acknowledge and thank the UN Trust Fund for providing the funds for this project, and Equality Now who helped secure these funds and is the Lead Implementing Agency.
It is my hope that this training will prove to be a milestone in engendering new and positive attitudes and opinions, and lasting implications on behaviour change, legal reform and ultimately make our society a safe place for the girl child. God bless you.
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