Young Women’s Agenda (YWA), a newly established organisation, has set off a bold mission of boost young women empowerment and inspiring female students in universities to take up leadership positions.
The organization also seeks to challenge structural patriarchy including everyday sexism that perpetrate gender stereotypes and violence against women and girls in Malawi.
The organization seeks to encourage young women to take a bold stand on taking leadership roles in the society.
Speaking at a seminar organized by YWO in Zomba on Saturday, President of the Organization Patience Chikalila said they want to encourage young women to actively participate in politics in the country.
Chikalila explained that the organisation will help young women to be leaders in the country and help them to speak against violation of women’s rights.
“Like today, our members are to be trained on rape, how they understand rape, types of rape, where they can report rape and how they can help someone who has been raped in our society. All that is being done to help young women to be empowered and to help other young women who are vulnerable” said Chikalila.
She further called for young women representation on decisions that are made affecting women in this country.
“It’s ironic to see that those people that make decisions affecting women or young women in particular are men, we feel that women must be the ones making decisions on their own,” Chikalila added.
On a phone interview, the founder and director of the organisation Rehema Patricks said “it is crucial to bred, mentor and build young females in the right direction if we are to develop as a country.”
She further added: “As Young Women’s Agenda, we not only here to provide a platform that enables the empowerment of women but every action taken in the course of fulfilling our goals is channelled to the unique needs and capacities of the girl child to ensure that they reach their fullest potential”.
The seminar which was organized by YWA involved the Police unit, Youth Net and Counselling (YONECO) in sessions that were prepared on rape and the training was conducted under the theme of “Violence against women and girls and gender justice”.
YWA has members from Chancellor College and it looks forward to expanding to other tertiary institutions in the country.
