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In line with its global mandate of protecting children from all forms of violence and to increase the visibility of school related gender violence, UNICEF with support from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and in partnership with the Institute of Education, University of London (IOE), have initiated a three-year multi-country project across 4 GPE-endorsed participating countries in Sub-Saharan Africa: Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia and Zambia. It is against this background that the Country (Stakeholder) Study Workshop was organised in Zambia with a view to lay a strategic foundation and establish an up-to-date mapping of the national context in relation to SRGBV in Zambia and also to create a platform for a more focused action plan to guide future programmatic partnership initiatives on SRGBV in the country.

To ensure that the girl-child is protected from gender related violence in schools and as well as the boy-child. The idea is to have a safe school learning environment to enhance student positive learning without fear of humilation, attacks and unwanted pregnancies.

Meeting with other stakeholders to map out strategies and to formulate and or adopting a rights based approach and partnerships, emphasising the need to develop and promote a common and systematic approach towards the identification, design, monitoring and evaluation of innovative interventions to address SRGBV in the Zambian education sector - “End Gender Violence in Schools Initiative”.

In Zambia, and particularly the capital city, many schools were visited. The theme on Schools Related Gender Based Violence was explained and small groups were formed to sensitise the others on the need to uphold good morals, create safe and healthy school learning environment for both girls and boys. The outcome was overwhelming as some pupils came out in the open to tell their stories on how they have been victimised. It is a plus to us. The provincial centres have been engaged to do the same and positive results are being recorded too.