Norwegian Church Aid and DanChurch Aid joint programme country director Stephen Jansen has commended the Evangelical Association of Malawi for empowering communities in Karonga to fight gender-based violence (GBV).

He said this on Monday after a monitoring tour to appreciate the impact of Evangelical Association of Malawi’s Timazge Nkhaza Project in the district.

Jansen said the collaboration among stakeholders such as traditional and religious leaders, courts, hospital and the district council has helped fight against the vice.

He said: “I am impressed with the project’s impact as all stakeholders are involved in raising awareness campaigns to eradicate GBV.

“We take GBV, fighting inequalities and climate smart economic empowerment as three pillars of our programing in Malawi, but gender-based violence is key to us.”

On his part, group village head Mwandambo said teamwork among community leaders helped to end child marriages, child labour and trafficking that contributed to school dropouts.

“As community leaders, we formulated by-laws that punish people who perpetuate gender-based violence, including marrying off girls,” he said.

In an interview, Evangelical Association of Malawi monitoring and evaluation officer Henry Mwalwanda said they intensified awareness campaigns to eliminate gender-based violence in the district.

“Since 2020, we have fought against child trafficking and child marriages through structures such as child protection officers, mother care groups, social welfare and the police,” he said.

With funding from the Norwegian Church Aid and DanChurch Aid, Evangelical Association of Malawi is implementing Timazge Nkhaza project in traditional authorities Mwakaboko, Kilupula and Kyungu in the district.

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