Media advisory
Zambia to hold symposium on child sexual abuse and violence against women
What: “Partnership against Gender-based and Sexual Violence against Children and Women in Zambia" an international symposium
Who: His Excellency President Levy Mwanawasa
The First Lady, Mrs. Maureen Mwanawasa
The First Lady of South Africa, Mrs. Mbeki
The First Lady of Rwanda, Mrs. Kagame
Mrs. Simao, wife of the Foreign Minister of Mozambique
Hon. Gladys Nyirongo, Minister for Sport, Youth and Child Development
Hon. George Kunda, Minister for Justice
Mr. Aeneas Chuma, UN Resident Coordinator
Dr. Stella Goings, UNICEF Representative
Ms. Daisy Nkhata Ng’ambi, President of the Female Lawyers’ Association of Zambia, FELAZ
Ms. Sarah Norton-Staal, Child Protection Adviser, Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office, UNICEF
St Michael and Sista D, NGOs, UN agencies, donors and civil society
When: 14-15 June 2004
Where: Inter-Continental Hotel, Lusaka, Zambia
Why:
- Everyday, hidden from view and with little hope of legal protection, the human rights of thousands of girls and women are violated.
- The alarming HIV infection rate amongst girls and women in Zambia is largely due to these widespread human rights abuses. Girls as young as 10 months are vulnerable to rape by men, old enough to be their grandfathers. Children are no longer safe, anywhere – not at home and certainly not at school. Mothers are rendered powerless by the threat of violence and the loss of economic support, such that they cannot negotiate for safer sex, for health care, ultimately for a better quality of life.
- The symposium aims to initiate dialogue on gender-based and sexual Violence. Zambia recognizes that if the region is to respond to the epidemic effectively, it must confront the cultural practices, strengthen legislation and policies and challenge the factors that perpetuate these human rights abuses in this dangerous era of HIV/AIDS.
- President Levy Mwanawasa will call for action to address the crisis at national, regional and international level, to strategically reduce the vulnerabilities of girls and women.
- First Ladies from Rwanda and South Africa and the wife of the Mozambican Minister for Foreign Affairs will also share their insights and experiences. Pledges from the Children’s Summit on Child Abuse of 13 June will be adopted by the symposium on 15 June.
For more information/interviews, please contact:
Edita Nsubuga, Communication Officer, UNICEF, tel: 260 1 252055/254265; cell: 260 97 759373; fax: 260 1 253389; e-mail: ensubuga@unicef.org; Mildred Chuumbwe, Maureen Mwanawasa Community Initiative, tel: 260 97 849309; Eugenia Temba, Snr. Communication Assistant, UNICEF, tel: 260 1 252055; cell: 260 97 846692; e-mail: etemba@unicef.org
