Government has called for strengthened collaboration in dealing with Violence Against Children within government systems in order to achieve the desired results.

Minister of Community Development and Social Services Doreen Mwamba made the call during an engagement with the visiting United Nations Special Representative to the Secretary General on Violence Against Children, Najat Maalla and other line government ministries.

Ms Mwamba said the lack of collaboration in government is hampering progress to fight Gender based Violence and other forms of abuse on children and women.

Dr Najat echoed the Minister’s sentiments on strengthened collaboration within the government ministries especially in rural areas which are not easily accessible by victims of violence.

And Ministry of Education Permanent Secretary for Administration Norian Muneku said her office has taken keen interest to track cases of abuse among pupils to ensure that perpetrators are brought to book.

Ms Muneku said the challenge that the ministry is facing under the GEWEL project is inadequate boarding facilities hence some girls drop out of school.

She said 80,000 children are being targeted but so far over 148, 000 girls have been reached.

Meanwhile, Gender Division Permanent Secretary Mainga  Kabika said the division is currently creating a data management system that will monitor and deter complainants who are in the habit of withdrawing cases related to Gender Based Violence [GBV].   

Other line ministries such as Education, Health, Home Affairs, Gender Division and Labour also added their voices on their operations and the challenges they face.