Creative Centre for Community Mobilization (Creccom) has described collaboration among various stakeholders as key in enhancing girls’ education.

Creccom Programme Manager Linice Sanga said the organization through Empowering Girls through Education (EGE) project has managed to ensure that all stakeholders are equally involved in reducing cases of teenage pregnancy and child marriage in Thyolo District.

“Parents, chiefs and different governance structures at school have a role to play including the girls themselves who are in girls’ clubs,” she said.

Sanga made the remarks at Malosa primary school in Traditional Authority Changata during a two-day girls’ retreat targeting female primary and secondary school students.

She said the retreat was conducted to inspire and motivate adolescent and re-admitted girls to remain in school.

“We want to tackle the issues that girls are facing that leads them into an early marriage or even engage in a boy- girl relationship and getting early pregnancy,” Sanga said.

“We have female teachers, role models from the community, stakeholders from district youth office, social welfare office and health office and one of the health centers here in Thyolo and all of us are trying to deliver different messages that will help these girls to remain in school.”

Thyolo District Social Welfare Assistant Brian Namulueso said the district has registered a decrease in cases of gender based violence due to interventions by Creccom and other non-governmental organisations.

“In the last quarter of last year gender based violence was at a higher rate before the coming in of organisations like Creccom that have mobilized communities in forming mother groups, girl champions and male champions to combat the vice,” Namulueso said.

Creccom is implementing a one year Empowering Girls through Education (EGE) project with financial support from Rise Up under the Public Health Institute (IPI).