Women for Change calls for the promotion of positive culture in Zambia

Women for Change (WfC) would like to encourage traditional leaders to emulate Chief Mulolo of the Chewa people of Chadiza in Eastern province of Zambia by promoting positive cultural practices that protect and promote the rights of girls and women.

WfC is concerned with the continued cultural practices that perpetuate gender inequality and consequently impact negatively on the future of girls and women in Zambia.

WfC would like to state that such cultural norms are harmful to the holistic development of communities and Zambia at large because they contribute to poverty which a large section of the country is subjected to. Such norms prevent girls and women from going to school, disapproves of their ownership to productive resources including land and ability to participate in decision making which have a bearing on their lives as well as health.

To this end, WfC would like to commend Chief Mulolo for encouraging his subjects to prioritise education for girls and boys in his Chiefdom as opposed to traditional dances such as Gule wamukulu and Chinamwali.

This pronouncement is a step in the right direction in addressing early pregnancies and child marriages that in 2014 stood at over 16,000 while 58 percent of these were from Eastern province where many girls undergo Chinamwali when they come of age.

Chinamwali means training in the Chewa language is the traditional initiations and training most Zambian women go through before they get married when older women instruct the younger.

Source: Women for Change (WfC)