AFRICA/ZAMBIA - How to encourage girls to study and avoid early marriages

Lusaka (Agenzia Fides) - Zambia has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world. More than 4 out of 10 women, aged between 20 and 24, get married when they are only 16. A destiny "already decided" for many young girls, which deprives them the opportunity to choose freely. To cope with the phenomenon, the Centre for Cooperation and Development Onlus (Italy CCS) has started a school dropout prevention program for girls, which deals with the fight against early marriages and premature pregnancies. "The goal is to carry out a pilot program in 2 rural schools and 5 secondary schools in the city of Chipata, involving not only the students, but also all those who surround them and influence their future", says a note sent to Fides. The girls themselves are at the center of the project, who through educational moments and the involvement of school boards, teachers and community leaders, will be accompanied in the process of acquiring an active and conscious role regarding the choices related to their lives. It is an activity that wants to offer the possibility of confrontation with positive models of young women who managed to escape the vicious cycle of early marriage and encourage girls to complete their education and achieve their independence. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 07/04/2016)

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