By Lovemore P. Chazingwa.
Harare, Zimbabwe. (News Of The South) – TEENAGE girls should utilize opportunities that come their way in the best possible manner if they are to achieve childhood dreams, a junior government official has said.
Child President Her Excellency (H.E.) Tinaye Mbavare made the remarks while delivering her solidarity message to delegates gathered for the World Population Day celebrations in the capital Friday.
About 200 teenage girls from both rural and urban centres, and various stakeholders attended the celebrations which were held at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe.The celebrations were conducted in tandem with an exhibition depicting the trials, tribulations and success stories of the teenage girl child.
The exhibition will run until Tuesday.
This year’s commemorations were held under the themes”Teen Talk- Inter-generational Dialogue” and “Harnessing the Demographic Dividend through investing in Teenage Girls”.
They were jointly was organized by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in partnership with Students and Young Women on Reproductive Health Action Team (SAYWHAT).
HE delivered an impassioned message on the need to educate teenage girls.
“Girls must focus on their education. It is painful to note that there are a lot of girls who are preoccupied with things that distract them from the proper trajectory of life. This is mainly a result of lack of education. For teenage girls, there is need to concentrate on your education as a rare opportunity which other children never access.
“There is serious need to concentrate on your education if you are to achieve your dreams. I used to tell my mother that I wanted to be a child president and that came true because I was focused. I put my education at the forefront,”she said.
The junior parliamentarian took the opportunity to advise teenage girls to be aware of the environment in which they exist and do the right things that can shape them up in the proper way for challenges of the future.
She added:”As teenage girls we need to value ourselves. We should be able to correctly discern on what we do. Let us not rush into things that are not for our age. That time will come. We must have mental strength and dignify our bodies as young women. Choose the right people around you.
“The right friendships are also important in order to make proper decisions. We should not contribute to the abuse inadvertently or inadvertently. Let us behave in ways that keep our dignity and self respect intact. If we don’t respect ourselves the people will not respect us as well.
“We must dress properly and not think that if we dress in a scant way we will be doing ourselves any favour. It is only shameful to expose our bodies.”
The child president castigated parents who sacrifice teenage girls for their selfish ends.
“Do not force teenage girls into early marriages as a way out of poverty or to satisfy your selfish desires. Poverty is not a reason to sacrifice the girl child,” Mbavare declared amid rapturous applause from the audience.
The child Leader implored on relevant authorities and other stakeholders to invest in the education and empowerment of the girl child as a way to shape up a vibrant future for the country.
The commemorations were attended by influential and successful women in leadership positions who narrated their life stories as a way to inspire and guide teenage girls gathered for the event.
Among the successful figures present were TelOne Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Chipo Mutasa, Zimbabwe Newspapers (1980) Ltd Public Relations and Corporate Affairs Manager Beatrice Tonhodzayi, Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Spokeswoman Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba, globally renowned fashion designer Joyce Chimanye, internationally acclaimed gender activist Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda and Southern Africa Aids Information Dissemination Services (Safaids0 director Tariro Chikumbirike who was also the director of proceedings.
UNFPA Deputy Representative Mr. Yu Yu graced the occasion.
<br.
The successful women were integrated as senior mentors of the Sister to Sister Project, a program meant to uplift marginalized and disadvantaged teenage girls from the age of ten to 19. However, those in the 20 to 24 age range can be considered into the program. It has mentors who are assigned to work with a group of particular teenage girls.
Some of the young girls gave testimonies of the challenges they have gone through and how Sister-to-Sister has helped them.
Entertainment was provided by Patsime Edutainment Trust (PET) and some young girls who performed plays depicting the struggles they go through.
WPD is an annual event observed on July 11 which seeks to raise awareness of global population issues. The event was established by the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in 1989. It was inspired by the public interest in the 5 billion day on July 11, 1987 approximately the date on which the world population reached five billion people.
It encourages the activities, events and information to help make this right a reality throughout the world. WPD aims to increase the people’s awareness on various population issues such as the importance of family planning, gender equality, poverty, maternal health and human rights
The world population as of January 1, 2014 is estimated to be 7.1 billion people.
Comments
About Author
