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Roselyne Sachiti
Features, Health & Society Editor

On Sunday, Zimbabwe joined the world in celebrating the International Day of the Girl Child.

Commemorated since 2012, the day aims to highlight and address the needs and challenges girls face globally, while promoting empowerment and the fulfilment of their human rights.

The day comes at a time some marginalised girls and young women face challenges that include access to sanitary pads as a result of high prices.

Some girls and young women also face challenges in accessing sexual and reproductive and health rights.

In some societies, girls still carry the burden of early and forced marriages, meaning they drop out of school and may never have a chance to return if no reintegration opportunities are put before them. Adding salt to some societal “wounds” is Covid-19, which resulted in national lockdowns, leaving some girls more vulnerable to early and forced marriages and dropping out of school.

For example, latest statistics from Manicaland Province revealed that over 400 girls from four districts dropped out of school owing to pregnancy, marriage, financial challenges and illness.

Buhera district registered 47 Grade Seven dropouts, of which 35 were girls and 12 were boys. At O’Level, 90 girls and 49 boys dropped out, while one A’ Level girl dropped out in the district.

There is hope for the girls as Government recently amended the Education Act to allow pregnant pupils and students to attend classes in all schools.

This means most of these children are allowed to go back to class.

Despite the work by Government and its development partners, the list of challenges keeps revolving and the media, and society can also contribute to put an end to them. The 2020 theme of International Day of the Girl Child, “My voice, our equal future”, comes at a time girls are speaking out to have challenges they face heard.

Responding to The Herald, Shamwari yeMwanasikana (SYS) director Ekenia Chifamba said the day highlights their core mandate, which is around fully recognising the rights of the girl child, her unique needs and also her power to become.

“The day puts the girl child at the centre of celebration by bringing out the importance, power and potential the girls possess,” she said.

“These are also fundamental basis upon which SYS is premised.

“We do believe the girl child to be full of potential, but is oppressed due to cultural backgrounds and societal make up, which puts the girl child in a position of submission to male dominance.

“For us, this day is like any other in our organisational setup, because this is what we do, we envision a gender balanced society, equal opportunities for both girls and boys, anti-discriminatory practices, prioritising the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of girls, influencing policies against all forms of discrimination against girls as Zimbabwe is also a ratifying member of the CEDAW.”

In essence, she said, the day brings to everyone’s attention the message they preach daily, girls rights have to be recognised.

Chifamba urged society to listen to the voice of the girl child, adding that girls themselves should be in a space where they own their voices and are not afraid to speak and to stand up for their rights.

From such a stand point, she said, SYS managed to establish the girls’ rights movement as in accordance with the Beijing Declaration which gives room for them to form movements for the recognition of women and girls’ rights.

“As we commemorate the International Day of the Girl Child, we also reflect on the work we’ve done as an organisation to advance the rights of the girls,” said Chifamba.

“These include community awareness campaigns on gender based violence (GBV), the dandaro revasikana — a space in which girls come together to create an amplified voice, SRHR hub — enlightening girls on their SRHR, which is usually denied them, the national girls Jury, pad bank (prioritising menstrual health).

“The day then awakens the desire in us to further implement measures that change the patriarchal nature, which is the basic source of the vulnerability of the girl child.”

Chifamba said this year’s theme was befitting.

“It is this voice that will bring about strides towards changing the status quo.We will as an organisation through our departments work tirelessly to make change happen for the girls, by the girls.”

On Sunday, the United Nations Country Team (UNCT) in Zimbabwe also paid tribute to adolescent girls in the country.

“The 2020 theme calls us to re-imagine a better future inspired by the ideas and innovations of adolescent girls,” noted the organisation.

“Girls in Zimbabwe, as in the world over, face myriad of challenges, including gender-based discriminations that result in less opportunities across a range of sectors like education, training and employment, compared with boys.”

According to UNCT, by age 19, when most children are expected to be starting their university or tertiary education, half of the girls in the country are already married. This reduces the chances of girls being able to pursue their aspirations and dreams. Sadly is that girls and young women under the age of 24 account for 30 percent of maternal deaths in the country. UNCT adds that one in three women and girls in Zimbabwe experiences sexual and gender-based violence at least once in their lifetime.

“The prevailing humanitarian and economic challenges in the country, and the added burden of the Covid-19 pandemic have shown that gender inequality continues, as women and girls bear a disproportionate brunt of the socio-economic hardships,” noted UNCT.

To address the deeply-rooted challenges girls and young women face in Zimbabwe, the UN and its partners support national development priorities in education, skills training, protection of children, HIV and Aids and food security.

The UN team in Zimbabwe are also working to ensure that girls in rural and urban areas have access to information and services on sexual and reproductive health. Through strong and ambitious partnerships such as the Spotlight Initiative, funded by the European Union, the UN is working with the Government of Zimbabwe, Civil Society Organisations and communities to eliminate violence against women and girls.

United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) East and Southern Region (ESAR) official Dr Julitta Onabanjo said they were calling attention to the vulnerabilities and needs of women and girls, especially during the Covid-19 crisis, and to why protecting sexual and reproductive health and rights and ending gender-based violence is an imperative, especially in these challenging times.

“Unfortunately, millions of girls in Africa remain unable to enjoy their rights,” she said.

“And for millions of girls for whom great gains had been made in ensuring that they can claim these rights, Covid-19 threatens to reverse this rightful entitlement. Progress made to date in ensuring girls are kept in school and not married off, in ending harmful practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM), and preventing and responding to GBV and preventing them from HIV infection, is under serious threat.”

Dr Onabanjo noted that every time a girl is subjected to FGM; forced into early marriage; sexually harassed, abused or coerced and often exposed to HIV infection and unplanned pregnancy as a result, her mental health and well-being is at risk.

She said about half of all mental disorders begin before the age of 14.

In adolescent mothers, post-partum depression is estimated between 26 and 50 percent. Adolescent girls and women caught in humanitarian crises have distinct mental health and psychosocial support needs.

According to Dr Onabanjo, it is a noble aspiration to create a gender-equal world by 2030, one that can become a reality.

“Only in such a world will girls be empowered to realise their dreams, and to tell the stories of their achievements for generations to come,” she said.

“UNFPA works to guarantee a world where every young person’s potential is fulfilled. There is no better time than now for each and every one of us to put on that protective mantle and ensure that we all play a role in investing in and putting young girls first.”