Chief Madzimawe of the Ngoni people in Eastern province has noted with concern the continuous record of high number of GBV cases, including teenage pregnancies and child marriages in that region.
Chief Madzimawe wondered if the outreach programmes in his chiefdom, which he said are very effective, have contributed to the rise in reporting GBV cases to relevant authorities.
The traditional leader said it appears that people have been made more knowledgeable about the need to report GBV cases and are now freely reporting.
Speaking in a phone interview with the media, the chief said his chiefdom has come up with a deliberate programme of ensuring the targeted audience is present as community engagements are being done.
“Most of the cases that you find involve the young people and for Eastern province, we are still trending for having the highest number of teenage pregnancies and early marriages which means we have a long way to go,” he noted.
Chief Madzimawe explained that the target now should be dealing directly with the young people by reaching out to them, hearing them and finding out what they are doing.
The traditional leader stressed that the relationship between his chiefdom and the stakeholders like government and the non-governmental organisations in approaching GBV cases in his area is cordial as they have to provide the necessary services.
He further added that skills development through Community Development Fund (CDF) is helping in reducing the cases of GBV in homes as it is helping more women to become self-reliant as they learn a skill.
Chief Madzimawe further highlighted that the skills training through CDF helps keep the young people busy thereby reducing the number of GBV cases in his chiefdom.
He cited lack of safe homes for survivors of GBV in his chiefdom as one of the challenges that the area is facing in the fight against GBV.
He has since called for a one stop centre that will have the necessary support for the survivors.
“Apart from having a secretariat and the tolls that we are using, we do not have a dedicated village-led one stop centre where people would go and find peace. We have failed to secure convictions in cases of GBV and rape. Sometimes we find that a victim will have nowhere to be kept, hence the importance of having such a facility,” he added.
