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–The Ministry of Gender and Child Development will this week distribute 28 cheques worth K127, 000 to women clubs in four districts of Eastern Province.
The ministry will also distribute 31 ploughs to women clubs in Chipata, Chadiza, Katete, Petauke, Nyimba and Vubwi districts.
Gender and Child Development Director of Social and Legal Affairs, Simon Kapilima, revealed the development when he called on Eastern Province Permanent Secretary, Chileshe Mulenga, in Chipata this morning.
Mr Kapilima said the resources are aimed at helping communities, especially women, uplift the lives by engaging in Income Generating Activities.
He stated that the cash and ploughs are aimed at enabling the women clubs engage in lucrative ventures.
He said that his ministry also gave a hammer mill and an oil expeller to women clubs in Vubwi and Chadiza respectively.
And Eastern Province Permanent Secretary, Chileshe Mulenga, commended government for empowering women, saying the programme will empower the beneficiary women.
Dr Mulenga stressed the need to strengthen sensitisation on the utilisation of the resources.
He appealed to the ministry to partner with other stakeholders to enhance the programme and incorporate literacy and human rights programmes for the local people to get more benefits from the programme.
The Permanet Secretary noted that the programme has helped alleviate poverty among people in communities as a number of them are able to make ends meet as they engage in lucrative businesses.
He observed that the women empowerment programme has done better than the youth empowerment programme because it is helping expand economy of the province through farming as the beneficiaries make good use of the extension message in the growth of the agricultural sector.
“When you focus on sustainable ventures such as agriculture, you make more profits. It is money spent well because it makes a difference in the lives of the beneficiaries,” he said.
He noted that government has continued to empower both men and women and stated that it should be made clear that man cannot take the lead on this particular empowerment programme.
“People should be made to understand that there are a number of empowerment programmes for all people though women take the lead in this particular programme,” he said.
