Community Action: Addressing Child Marriage and Adolescent Pregnancy in Katete District, Zambia
Chieftainess Kawaza's inspiring collaborative efforts in Child Protection and Education- The critical role of traditional leaders in ending child marriage and adolescent pregnancy.
Katete, Eastern Province, Zambia, 29 June 2024 — In the heart of Katete District in Zambia’s Eastern Province lies the influential Chieftainess Kawaza, a 52-year-old mother, highly respected and visionary leader of the Chewa-speaking people. Chieftainess Kawaza is driving an inspiring initiative to address adolescent pregnancies and child marriage within her Kawaza Chiefdom. Her chiefdom encompasses about 650 villages transcending between Katete and Sinda districts, with Katete district being one of the top 15 districts in the country for child marriage prevalence. Chieftainess Kawaza has taken proactive steps to address harmful practices including adolescent pregnancy and child marriage by implementing an extensive awareness programme, organising community dialogues and closely collaborating with local authorities to develop effective prevention strategies. Her dedicated efforts are playing a crucial role in bringing about positive change and empowering the community to confront these complex social issues.
"I created this programme after I saw the high number of girls falling pregnant or getting married in the chiefdom following the sharing of the findings from the UNICEF supported research in 2015*. I mobilised my community to find the best way to address the issues and work towards a harmonious solution," Chieftainess Kawaza explains.
Chieftainess Kawaza initiated a response to the pressing challenges of adolescent pregnancy and child marriage in her area by first mobilising her community to establish village-level committees. Each village formed a committee comprising five members, with the headman1 serving as the chairperson. These committees are tasked with overseeing the execution of agreed strategies aimed at addressing adolescent pregnancy and child marriage. Recognizing the need for a well-thought-out approach, the chiefdom devised a comprehensive strategy to provide guidance to all stakeholders participating in the initiative.
“We started with the committees at the village level so that each village has a committee of five, in which the chairperson is the headman, to ensure that committees follow through with what they are doing. From there, we decided to come up with a strategic plan because the chiefdom had a lot of challenges to address, and just talking about these challenges wouldn't help us know where we are going,” Chieftainess Kawaza expresses.
Chieftainess Kawaza actively collaborates with various institutions, including the Government of the Republic of Zambia, UNICEF, UNFPA, Plan International, and World Vision. In a coordinated effort, she advocates for the end of child marriage and adolescent pregnancy within her jurisdiction. The primary focus of this collaboration is to mitigate the health risks faced by young girls, violence they experience in these marriages and ensure their access to education and personal development.
In close partnership with the Government of Zambia and partners, UNICEF is implementing a multifaceted programme to end child marriage and adolescent pregnancy whose strategic priorities were informed by the 2015 Qualitative Study of Child Marriage in Six Districts of Zambia*. The approach involves the facilitating of inclusive community dialogues on ending child marriage. The dialogues are led by community volunteers, popularly referred to as Community Welfare Assistant Committee (CWAC) members. The community dialogues bring parents and community members together to dialogue on norms that drive child marriage and adolescent pregnancy. Community volunteers engage and consult with traditional and religious leaders, parents, and adolescents, whose support is vital in influencing changes in harmful norms and practices. By adopting this comprehensive and participatory approach, UNICEF and its partners aim to comprehensively tackle the underlying norms that perpetuate child marriage, address the challenges and empower communities to take a lead in supporting and advocating for the desired change. Chieftainess Kawaza is a lead champion in advocating for change in cultural practices that are harmful to children and preservation of positive cultural practices.
UNICEF also collaborates with designated government ministries, applying gender transformative approaches such as mentorship and empowerment of girls’ agency to make informed decision on their sexual and reproductive health, positive parenting, Coaching-Boys-To-Men and the engagement of men to promote respectful relationships, including respect for girls and women, life skills, and non-violence. Additionally, UNICEF provides support for gender responsive WASH facilities in schools, including Menstrual Health Management (MHM) and the prevention of school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV).
Furthermore, UNICEF and the Government are working to advocate for the effective implementation of the Children’s Code Act and the recently amended Marriage Act which prohibits marriage of a person below the age of 18 to safeguard the rights and well-being of children in Katete. Through these collaborative initiatives, Chieftainess Kawaza is creating a lasting impact and positive change in her communities.
"Chieftainess Kawaza is a beacon of hope in Katete, leading her community with courage and compassion. Her relentless commitment to ending child marriage and adolescent pregnancy is both inspiring and critical in safeguarding the futures of every child. By supporting leaders like her, we can foster meaningful conversations, challenge harmful practices, and ensure that every child in Zambia has the opportunity to thrive and reach their full potential," says Dr. Penelope Campbell, UNICEF Zambia Country Representative.
In addition, UNICEF, through the UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to End Child Marriage, collaborates with Plan International to strengthen the capacity of traditional leaders to build systems that reflect the provisions of the statutory law in the context of the cultural values of the Chiefdoms. Thus, Plan International has facilitated Kawaza Chiefdom to develop customary by-laws to end child marriage and adolescent pregnancy.
“It is truly inspiring to witness the dedicated and impactful efforts within the chiefdom in creating a bright future for the younger generation through an integrated approach in tackling the child marriage and teenage pregnancy challenges,” states Edwin Mumba, Gender Programme Specialist, UNICEF Zambia.
Following the situation in Katete district, Chieftainess Kawaza and her team demonstrated their unwavering commitment to addressing cases of child marriage and adolescent pregnancy by establishing a secretariat and Gender-Based Violence (GBV) committee, marking another transformative step. The chiefdom's strategic vision included facilitating coordination between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health, who jointly worked with schools, parents, and teachers to address adolescent pregnancy and child marriage through information and services on sexual and reproductive health, mentorship and adolescent participation in decision-making. By forging partnerships with head teachers and district education board secretaries, the chiefdom has effectively guaranteed that schools consistently report on the status of learners, including monitoring and reporting on attendance and truism, thus safeguarding children in schools and enabling the timely identification and support whenever risks that may push adolescent girls and boys out of school are identified.
Additionally, the chiefdom encourages the successful reintegration of children, especially girls affected by adolescent pregnancy or child marriage back to the school. Through counseling sessions and careful consideration, these children are able to successfully go back to school as community committees support returning leaners with school materials. This intervention is supported by the national school re-entry policy that also provides for re-admission of girls that leave school due to pregnancy and childbearing.
Consequently, as a result of the efforts of the Chieftainess, Katete district in 2023 recorded a significant achievement, with 1,363 boys and girls successfully reintegrated into the school system. Among them were 274 girls who had left school due to pregnancy, 16 girls who were married and returned to school, and 553 girls who had dropped out due to other reasons. Furthermore, 117 boys who had been withdrawn from cattle herding and 403 boys who had stopped attending school for various reasons were also successfully reintegrated back into the school system to continue with their education. However, despite making commendable progress, Chiefteness Kawaza efforts face a number of challenges, particularly in secondary schools where available boarding facilities are limited. This has protection implication on adolescents especially girls. Many girls in the chiefdom are forced to seek temporary weekly boarding shelters in villages to attend classes. Chieftainess Kawaza emphasises the need for collective efforts from all stakeholders, including the Government, to address these challenges.
“The challenges we face, such as early pregnancy, are becoming more common in day secondary schools. Day secondary schools do not have boarding facilities, so often girls must squat weekly in the villages. This situation makes our girls vulnerable to exploitation by the community,” Chieftainess Kawaza states.
Overall, Chieftainess Kawaza's unwavering dedication and innovative strategies have laid a solid foundation for ongoing progress with visionary leadership serving as an inspiration, not only within her chiefdom, but also as an example to other chiefdoms on the critical role of traditional leaders in ending child marriage and other harmful practices. Through her approach and collaborative spirit, Chieftainess Kawaza has given hope to many children and driven positive change, marking a significant step towards ending early pregnancies and child marriages in Katete.
“I want the Kawaza chiefdom to be free from early marriages, unplanned pregnancies, and issues related to gender-based violence and defilement cases,” Chieftainess Kawaza states.
