Give contraception to girls – Ipas

A health profession addressing parents at Kanyama Clinic in Lusaka

By DOREEN NAWA
IN A BID to reduce the number of women who die from pregnancy-related complications, a cross section of people in Zambia and non- governmental organisations have suggested that contraception should be given to every woman in the reproductive age group including girls between the ages of 14 to 18.
Ipas Zambia director Felicia Sakala said it was “unethical” to allow these women to keep dying from preventable deaths.
Speaking in an interview at a ‘Safe aborting advocacy’ meeting in Lusaka recently, Ms Sakala said even though the major causes of maternal mortality were known and ranged from over bleeding, high blood pressure to malaria, many women die of unsafe abortion.
Ipas is a global non-profit that works to increase women’s ability to exercise their sexual and reproductive rights, and to reduce maternal mortality as a result of unsafe abortions.
Ms Sakala said for Ipas Zambia, the idea of introducing contraception to girls between 14 and 18 years especially those in schools is a thought in the right direction.
“They can’t tell their parents that they are pregnant. They can’t tell their teachers. And the boys who have made them pregnant are usually their classmates and they cannot help. These girls usually end up trying to get rid of the foetus and at times they end up dying,” said Ms Sakala said.
She said this is not time to bury our heads in the sand but instead we should prepare to find ways in which to avail contraception to girls in this age bracket.
“The is need to set up youth-friendly corners in schools, hospitals, where girls can go and get help,” said Ms Sakala, adding that there should also be room to provide condoms and pills as well as counselling.
“You don’t know what some of these girls go through,” said Ms Sakala. “When they cannot confide in anyone and they are desperate to get rid of the pregnancy, they will do anything.”
Ms Sakala said there is need to reduce the stigma associated with youth sexuality.
“Even when girls and young women are informed about family planning and services available, many do not access the services for fear of reproach or criticism.
“To lower cultural and social barriers to care, we must engage community leaders including political and religious leaders,” Ms Sakala said.

Alliance Media increasing its presence in Zambia

Alliance Media has recently installed massive new 15m x 12m portrait billboards as well as some really powerful new landscape gantries in Zambia.

New gantry installed just last week on the Great East Road

Lusaka has become quite cluttered with billboards and Alliance Media has decided to invest in some larger format billboards that stand out, and tower over and above the clutter of other smaller structures. These new outdoor billboards are located in key high traffic areas and will generate excellent exposure for any brand.

These large format outdoor advertising sites give the best combination of appearance and return on investment. Alliance Media Zambia is Zambia's largest outdoor advertising company, dominating the capital city and operating in all 10 provinces.

Alliance Media is known as Africa's largest Out Of Home (OOH) media company, offering billboards and airport advertising in 23 African countries.

Fastjet to start international flights on Friday

Fastjet‚ Africa's first low cost airline‚ confirmed on Monday (14 October) that it will start its international flight operations on Friday (18 October).

The airline's first international flight‚ from Dar es Salaam's Julius Nyerere International Airport in Tanzania to Johannesburg's OR Tambo International Airport in SA‚ is scheduled to depart at 9.15am on Friday morning (18 October) and will arrive in SA at 11.45am‚ local time.

Flights between the two cities will initially be operated by Fastjet three times a week on Mondays‚ Wednesdays and Fridays‚ increasing in frequency as soon as consumer demand dictates.

Fastjet's chief executive and interim chairman Ed Winter said: "The Department of Transport has completed its review of the additional documents it requested and has issued an updated foreign operator permit. Fastjet is delighted that‚ in line with our expansion strategy‚ operations can now start on this route.

"Until now‚ flying between Dar es Salaam and Johannesburg has been prohibitively expensive for many people. The launch of this service offers a new‚ affordable and reliable option to both Tanzanians and South Africans," Winter claimed. 

In June this year, Fastjet, the African budget airline, was granted permission to launch international flights from its hub in Tanzania to Zambia.


The company, which is backed by Easyjet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou, will fly to South Africa and Rwanda.

It received route approvals from the relevant governments under Bilateral Air Services Agreements (BASAs).

Fastjet also said it was putting its plans to launch a domestic service in South Africa on hold.

"This is a monumental day in Fastjet's history, and brings us closer to our goal of becoming Africa's first pan-continental low-cost airline," said Ed Winter, chief executive and chairman.

"We have expended huge effort over the past six months in obtaining these rights, and we can only thank the government and population of Tanzania, who have lobbied hard to allow us to gain access to the bilateral rights to operate to these countries.

"We will soon announce launch dates for flights to Johannesburg, Kigali and Lusaka from Dar es Salaam."

The company is hoping to offer early bookers flights between Johannesburg and Dar es Salaam for around $100 (£64), one-way, excluding government taxes and charges.

Separately, on Thursday, the company agreed to create a low-cost airline operating within Nigeria, jointly with Nigeria's Red 1 Airways.

Fastjet was created following its acquisition of the African airline Fly540, and operates from four bases in Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana and Angola.

As such, it already has 10 aircraft serving around 25 destinations within Africa.

Fastjet also announced it had secured financing of up to £15m ($23.5m) through an equity deal with Darwin, a subsidiary of fund managers Henderson Global Investors Volantis Capital.

Innovate for girls education

OCTOBER 11 is the International Day of a girl child. Today, through out the world, the Girl Child is being celebrated as declared by the United Nations General Assembly on December 19, 2011, that on this day the world should  recognise girls’ rights and the unique challenges faced by girls around the world. The theme for this year’s celebration,  “Innovating for girls’ education,” focuses on smart and creative use of technology, policies, partnerships and, most of all, the engagement of young people, themselves, as important tools for overcoming barriers to girls’ learning and achievement. Innovation for girls’ education has the power to change and make even incremental changes in how education is accessed, designed and delivered and can strengthen girls’ participation, learning and empowerment.
According to the United Nations, the fulfillment of girls’ right to education is first and foremost an obligation and moral imperative. There is also overwhelming evidence that girls’ education, especially at the secondary level, is a powerful transformative force for societies and girls themselves. It is the one consistent positive determinant of practically every desired development outcome, from reductions in mortality and infertility, to poverty reduction and equitable growth, to social norm change and democratisation.
While there has been significant progress in improving girls’ access to education over the last two decades, many girls, particularly in most marginalised environments, continue to be deprived of this basic right. Girls in many countries are still unable to attend school and complete their education due to safety-related, financial, institutional and cultural barriers.
Recognizing the need for fresh and creative perspectives to propel girls’ education forward, the 2013 International Day of the Girl Child will address the importance of new technology, but also innovation in partnerships, policies, resource utilisation, community mobilisation, and most of all, the engagement of young people themselves.
All UN agencies, member states, civil society organisations, and private sector actors, have potential tools to innovate for and with girls to advance their education. Examples of possible steps include:
Improved public and private means of transportation for girls to get to school—from roads, buses, mopeds, bicycles to boats and canoes.
Collaboration between school systems and the banking industry to facilitate secure and convenient pay delivery to female teachers and scholarship delivery to girls.
Provision of science and technology courses targeted at girls in schools, universities and vocational education programmes.
Corporate mentorship programmes to help girls acquire critical work and leadership skills and facilitate their transition from school to work.
Revisions of school curricula to integrate positive messages on gender norms related to violence, child marriage, sexual and reproductive health, and male and female family roles.