This archive report was first published on 29 July 2020.
Malawi's school closures due to the coronavirus pandemic have had a devastating impact on the country's young women, leading to a surge in child marriages and early pregnancies.
According to the Malawian government, schools were closed on March 20, even before a single coronavirus case had been reported in the landlocked country.
However, over the past four months, infections have surged, with a total of 3,664 cases registered so far, including 99 deaths.
Civil Society Coalition on Education director Benedicto Kondowe told AFP that the pandemic has fundamentally changed the course of young women's lives, pointing out that Malawi already had one of the highest rates of child marriages in the world before the pandemic struck.
"Covid-19 has led to a surge in underage unions," Kondowe said, adding that remote areas have reported an increase in child marriages since schools closed.
His organisation has reported 5,000 cases of teenage pregnancies in the southern Phalombe district, while over 500 girls have entered into early marriages since the onset of the pandemic.
"What the figures show is that girls lack the needed protection as they get plunged into the margin of life," Kondowe said, adding that increases in gender-based violence, exploitation and other forms of abuse against adolescent girls had also been noted.
Government officials have also acknowledged the issue, with the district education officer for the southern town of Nsanje, Gleston Alindiamawo, blaming parents and guardians for failing to provide proper guidance to their children during the period in which they have been out of school.
Meanwhile, in the eastern district of Mangochi, at least 7,274 teenage girls have become pregnant from January to June this year, a figure that is 1,039 more compared with those who became pregnant during the same period last year.
United Nations Women specialist Habiba Osman called on community leaders to monitor and assist young people from engaging in "risky behaviours".
