By BUUMBA CHIMBULU
ATLAS Mara has provided 60 bicycles to girls at Chafwa Secondary School in Kasama as a contribution towards a campaign being conducted by the World Vision Zambia targeting girls retrieved from child marriages.
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The contribution by the bank, is therefore meant to assist girls to cut long distances they cover when going to school.
Atlas Mara acting Managing Director, Bobbline Cheembela, envisioned that the bicycles would be used as a means of empowerment, a tool to break down the barriers that stood between young girls and their dreams.
At the handover ceremony in Lusaka yesterday, Mr Cheembela explained that the bank’s priority was to assist girls who lived in the furthest villages and that by providing these bicycles, it aimed to significantly reduce the distance these girls had to cover to reach their schools.
“We applaud World Vision Zambia for launching a powerful campaign called “Strong Girls Strong Zambia in October 2022 which will run until September 2025 which is aimed at transforming the lives of over 15, 000 girls who have been rescued from child marriages or are at risk of dropping out of school.
“We have seen how this initiative has complemented other efforts embarked on in 2018 that have reached over 253, 000 children and saved over 1, 000 girls from child marriages,” he said.
And World Vision Zambia Chief Executive Officer, John Hasse, explained that the SGSZ campaign was targeting girls retrieved from child marriages and those at risk.
Mr Hasse indicated that the World Vision Zambia had successfully achieved the objectives to raise awareness and increase influence at national level policy that supported the ending of child marriages.
“With these efforts, over 1, 000 girls have been pulled out of child marriages and communities are aware of the consequences of engaging in such practices. The next step is to provide practical and sustainable solutions to ensure that vulnerable girls thrive,” he said.
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