Senior Chief Kwataine of Ntcheu has hailed Village Savings and Loans (VSLs) for economically empowering women which is leading to a number of positive benefits, including reduced cases of gender based violence (GBV) among others.
The senior chief made the remarks over the weekend at his Madzanje headquarters during a VSLs meeting on best practices of women economic empowerment organised by Family Development Services with funding from the Royal Norwegian Embassy under NGO-GCN.
“The VSL groups have helped a lot of women in my area to be economically empowered through various businesses they are running. The income provided through participation in VSLs is also helping women to earn respect from their families.
“The husbands now treat their wives carefully because they bring food on the table. Even issues of property grabbing are becoming history due to co-ownership of property,” said Chief Kwataine.
The senior chief then challenged VSLs to include in their lessons reproductive health, saying resources can only be manageable with a small family.
“Don’t only provide lessons on business management, but also issues to do with reproductive health. The country is suffering because of its failure to manage population. Be visionary and have a sizable family for easy management of resources,” he urged.
FDS Executive Director, Jean Mkwanda, asked VSL members to pay back loans in time, warning that delays will result in having no seed money at their bank.
“VSL is a self sustaining initiative where members contribute savings and lend each other at an agreed minimal interest. Therefore, there is need that when you share the money remember to pay back in time for sustainability of your respective groups,” appealed Mkwanda.
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