Tanzania: NGOs in Shinyanga join forces to fight schoolgirl pregnancies

Shinyanga — Four Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), which operate in Shinyanga Municipality, have agreed to join forces to fight pregnancies among school girls and early marriages.

The move aims at ensuring that schools girls successfully complete their studies and achieve their life-long dreams. They are Agape, Chidep, YWCA and Weado. The organisations are set to organise various campaigns to sensitise and educate the public on the side effects of early pregnancies and marriages, which are currently on the rise.

Speaking over the weekend at the launching of the project, Agape Director John Myola, who is also the leader of the project, said they will also be in a position to track down all people behind child pregnancies and marriages and ensure they face full wrath of law.

He said they have obtained about 500m/- from the US, which will be used to fight the problem. Mr Myola noted that the project will be implemented between 2016 and 2017 and all 17 wards within the municipality are to be covered.

He noted that with current figures showing that the problem scales up; the NGOs will do all within their abilities to save young schools girls currently leaving studies due to pregnancies and marriages.

On his part, Shinyanga Municipal Community Development Officer, who was the chief guest at the project’s launching ceremony, Mr Emmanuel Ng’abi, commended the organisations for such effort, which he said will greatly benefits girls in the region.

He said that according to current statistics, Shinyanga was the leading region in early pregnancies and child marriages followed by Tabora and Mara. One of the ward executive officers who attended the event, Mr David Ong’washi, pledged full support to the project’s implementation.