Over 1,000 girls reportedly saved from early marriages countrywide

World Vision Zambia Chief Executive Officer, John Hasse, has claimed that over 1,000 girls had been pulled out of child marriages countrywide through its campaign called Strong Girls Strong Zambia (SGSZ).

Hasse explained that the SGSZ campaign was targeting girls retrieved from child marriage and those at risk.

He said this in Lusaka on Tuesday at the handover ceremony of 60 bicycles towards the campaign by Atlas Mara bank.

During the ceremony, Hasse indicated that the world vision Zambia had successfully achieved the objectives to raise awareness and increase influence at national level policy that supported the ending of child marriages.

“With these efforts, over 1000 girls have been pulled out of child marriages and communities are aware of the consequences of engaging in such practices. The next step is to provide practical and sustainable solutions to ensure that vulnerable girls thrive,” he said.

He indicated that the provision of bicycles to 60 girls would, therefore, go a long way in helping them cover the long distances to school easily and safely.

Atlas Mara acting Managing Director, Bobbline Cheembela, envisioned that the bicycles would be used as a means of empowerment, a tool to break down the barriers that stood between young girls and their dreams.

Cheembela explained that the bank’s priority was to assist girls who lived in the farthest villages, and that by providing these bicycles, it aimed to significantly reduce the distance these girls had to cover to reach their schools.

“We applaud World Vision Zambia for launching a powerful campaign called “Strong Girls Strong Zambia in October 2022 which will run until September 2025 which is aimed at transforming the lives of over 15,000 girls who have been rescued from child marriages or are at risk of dropping out of school.

“We have seen how this initiative has complimented other efforts embarked on in 2018 that have reached over 253,000 children and saved over 1,000 girls from child marriages,” he said.

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