National Youth Council of Malawi (NYCOM) will on Friday involve young women in the country in celebrating the International Women’s Day in Dowa.
The International Women’s Day falls on 8th March every year and the youth council will commemorate the day by holding various activities at Mponela Community Technical College.
Solomoni Mlinda is the programme officer for youth participation and empowerment at National Youth Council of Malawi and he told Malawi24 that the celebrations are aimed at recognising young women and girls in technical fields traditionally not perceived for women and also to encourage girls in and out of school to embrace the opportunities presented by these fields.
According to Mlinda, the event shall have an empowerment and motivation session in the morning for in and out of the school young girls from within the community college area and a community engagement session in the afternoon where NYCOM will launch a story writing competition for the youth.
“Youth will be asked to write and submit stories about a woman they know who is courageous and has pursued non-traditional careers and has shaped new positive gender roles,” said Mlinda.
The International theme for this year is: “Women in the Changing World: Planet 50-50 by 2030.” While here in Malawi it is under the theme “Closing the Gender Gap in the World of Work by 2030.”
The celebrations will also be spiced up by drama, poetry and music performances.
Award winning female reggae and dancehall artist Sangie will collaborate with Robert Chiwamba in a song written for the event entitled “Ngwazi zazikazi.”
In the poetry sector, Chiwamba who is a women’s rights champion will also share his new poem with the same title as the song.
Speaking to Malawi24, Chiwamba said that the poem is a celebration of women working in male dominated fields and it salutes them for their bravery and courage and acknowledges that they are heroes.
Chiwamba also expressed his happiness at collaborating with Sangie in the song entitled “Ngwazi zazikazi”.
“The audio and the video of the song will be out on 8th March, and we will perform it on Friday during the celebrations. As an artist I am happy to celebrate with these women who are not only good examples but also good catalysts of development in our area,” Chiwamba said.
“I am happy to be considered as one of the artists championing the equity and equality between men and women as this is not only plus to poetry but to the arts industry as a whole,” Malawi’s number one poet added.
The poem and song shall be launched and made available for free downloads on www.sapitwapoetry.com and www.malawi music.com.
The story writing competition organised by NYCOM shall run under the banner “Ngwazi Zazikazi” to signify how these women are outstanding and embracing the changing world of work.
The competition shall be officially launched on 10th March, 2016 and closing date for receiving entries is 10th July, 2017.
Youth can send in stories as early as possible to stand a chance of winning small prizes like T-shirts, solar lamps and school bags. The major prizes shall be announced at the launch at Mponela Trading Centre.
The event in Mponela will be organised with technical and financial support from UNESCO through its Skills and Technical Education Programme (STEP) in partnership with the Department of Technical and Vocational Training in the Ministry of Labour, Youth, Sports and Manpower Development.
