A civic group under the banner Matabele Queens has launched a programme aimed at ending child pregnancies and marriages.
A member of the Matabele Queens, Esther Mthethwa said their main focus would be on raising awareness against the ills of child pregnancies. “We want to teach children how to sustain themselves and break this tendency of teenage pregnancies,” Mthethwa said.
“We are here as Matabele Queens to teach them to be respected future mothers. As parents we need to teach our children how a girl child should behave.” A latest unicef report on child marriages in the country shows that Zimbabwe has over 1 million child brides.
“Zimbabwe is home to over 1 million child brides, one in three young women were married in childhood,” Unicef said. The constitution prohibits boys and girls below the age of 18 from marriage.