Government says it has adopted deliberate policies that will address gender inequality in the country in line with the United Nations(UN) Sustainable Development Goal (SDG).
Gender Permanent Secretary Edwidge Mutale stated that government’s wish is to ensure that all women and girls in Zambia attain the same level with men by ensuring that women and girls are educated.
ZANIS reports that Ms Mutale said this when she lectured pupils at Kabulonga Girls Secondary school in Lusaka today on gender equality dubbed the World’s largest lesson.
She observed that days are gone when women were not economically viable and considered to make decisions affecting the country’s economic, social, and political landscape.
The permanent secretary bemoaned that few women were elected to political positions during the just ended general elections owing to lack of grade 12 qualification.
Meanwhile, United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Zambia Deputy Representative Shadrick Omol said the UN agency will continue to work with the government, Civil Society and Communities to encourage Women and Girls to have equal opportunities to be heard and access to opportunities in life.
Mr Imol stressed that despite the achievements in education enrollment rates the country has achieved, retention and completion remain a challenge especially for girls.
The UN official noted that more boys than girls complete school in Zambia and that only 65 percent of girls complete primary education.
The World’s largest lesson is a UNICEF initiative under the Global Goals Campaign to teach Children in over 100 countries about the new SDG’S that were adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in September 2015.
