NCA-DCA JOINT COUNTRY PROGRAM VISITS KARONGA DIOCESE ON MONITORING VISIT
By Noel Chatepa
A team from the NCA-DCA Joint Country Program visited the Karonga Diocese to monitor the Gender Based Violence and Fighting Inequalities projects being implemented by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) in the diocese as part of a nationwide joint monitoring visit. The joint monitoring visits to different project partners in the country were part of an effort to monitor and learn how communities have embraced ownership over project interventions to ensure sustainability of the projects even after they phase out.
During the visits, the team from NCA-DCA had the chance to interact with community representatives such as chiefs, faith leaders, mother groups, Public Expenditure Tracking committees, beneficiaries among others from both GBV and FI project sites.
Speaking in a separate interview after visiting Chikutu GBV project site, Joseph Gondwe, Team leader for the delegation said, “the right holders have been able to share with us some of the project impacts and clearly mention the figures of the child marriages they have been able to end and the GBV cases they have reported to the police”.
“We will try to look into some of the lessons with CCJP on areas the project is doing well and also in areas that can be improved. We will also look into the exit of the project to ensure that it is sustainable, it was quite impressive that the community members were able to mention some of the initiatives that they are doing to ensure that the project goes on even after it is phased out” added Gondwe.
“Indeed, violations were being committed in the mines, but since the project’s introduction, changes are being made by the investors, such as miners wearing protective gear, adhering to acceptable working hours, paying the minimum wage, and the investors engaging in corporate social responsibility such as building schools, shelters, rehabilitating roads among others,” stated GVH Kamthendenga who is the chairperson of Wasambo Mining Committee, during the Fighting Inequalities project interface with NCA-DCA, CCJP and right holders.
The Fighting Inequalities project and the Gender-Based Violence, Sexual and Reproductive Health rights project in Karonga are being implemented by the Karonga Diocese Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace with financial support from the NCA-DCA country program through the Episcopal Conference of Malawi.