Madagascan President Marc Ravalomanana said the island country would pass a stringent law to ban sex tourism and sexual exploitation of young girls.

 

Opening a national meeting of women here on Monday, Ravalomanana disclosed that he would submit a more stringent law to the parliament aimed at protecting young girls and women from sexual exploitation.

 

Some 3,000 women from 22 regions of the country participated in a three-day leadership training within the framework of the presidential initiative, media here reported on Tuesday.

 

The president also warned foreign tourists against sexual abuse of young girls and women in the country though he expressed welcome to those who intended to create companies and jobs for the young.

 

He encouraged parents to let their daughters to focus on their studies up to higher education or make their living with dignity rather than allowing them to support the family as prostitutes.

 

Ravalomanana also encouraged women to participate in civil affairs, to sit in the parliament, to be leaders of the districts and to learn to be mayors, saying that sometimes women could lead even better than men.

 

He called on the women to join men in meeting challenges faced by the country including development of the country and explosion of the population.

 

"The average number of children that Malagasy mothers have is 5.4. That number goes up to 8 and 10 children in many rural areas. This large family size puts tremendous strain on the economy, the environment and the social fabric of the nation. It also puts strain on families," the president told the meeting.

 

In the country's development program, or Madagascar Action Plan, the government intended to reduce the average number of children to three or four in each family.

 

Official statistics showed that one out of three girls between 13 and 17 in the island country had a baby, the phenomenon which the president said must stop.

 

He promised to educate and empower women, particularly the new generation of girls, and to help them to make wise decisions.

 

Ravalomanana said that he had already directed his government to develop a micro-finance program especially aimed at addressing the needs of women to help them set up small businesses.

 

The meeting, the first since Madagascar's independence from France in 1960, will discuss, among others, women and leadership, the fight against early pregnancy of teenage girls under 13, the promotion of family planning and children's education, the issue of gender and the empowerment of women in general.

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2007)