Shamwari Yemwanasika has urged the girls to speak out on their Sexual Reproductive and Health Issues and advocate for a world which is suitable for them.
In a statement to commemorate the International Day of the Girl Child, said it is important for girls to shape their futureas they hold the power to open up opportunites for them.
“This year’s theme provides a platform for the global community to understand the disadvantages girls face thereby focusing on problems and challenges faced by girls, which are an impediment to their well-being and achieving a better quality of life.
“At the same time, this day is designated to eliminate gender-based challenges that girls face around the world, including child marriages, poor learning opportunities, violence, neglect, and discrimination. We understand the plight of the girl child with regard to issues that affect them,”
SY highlighted that issues of period poverty, menstrual hygiene, teenage pregnancies and maternal deaths of young girls remain on the rise in the country which is used by climate change, increasing hunger, poverty, deepening inequalities, and shifting global geopolitics.
Meanwhile,Plan International Zimbabwe has called on leaders and communities, to champion girls’ leadership and decision-making.
According to Plan International’s Head of Programs Antoinette Ngoma, “Girls’ participation in decision-making and their interaction with power needs to be appreciated in its broad diversity.
“We need to acknowledge and value the knowledge and experience that girls and young women already have, and to identify recommendations for how to best support girls and young women’s participation at a higher level for greater influence.”
“We have seen girls organizing locally and even through social media to give voice to their issues in health, education, and care work, bringing them to the attention of the duty bearers. They are demonstrating that the issues that affect them in their private space are issues of policy-level significance that need attention,” adds Ngoma.
The International Day of the Girl 2022 is an opportunity to spotlight the challenges that girls continue to face in our context. Girls’ issues ought to be part of the national agenda and their voices need to be heard in decision-making platforms and spaces.
This day remains a key global moment to celebrate the power of girls and highlight the barriers they face since the United Nations (UN) adopted it as International Day of the Girl in December Today marks a decade since Resolution 66/170, which declared October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child.
