African women to climb Mt Kilimanjaro to protest Gender-based violence on March 8.

Two Zambian women are expected to join other African women in climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to raise awareness on the increased cases of gender-based violence in the country, African Spotlight reports.

The climbing of the 5,892-metre high Mt Kilimanjaro, the highest in Africa, is to coincide with the International Women’s Week and Women’s Day which falls on March 8.

The climbing of the mountain, dubbed “United Africa”, will occur on March 5-9, The Daily Mail of Zambia reported.

Dr Rokaya Ginwalla, one of the women climbers and a medical doctor by profession, said she decided to participate in the program because of the high number of gender-based violence cases she attends to.

“As a doctor, I work closely with victims of gender-based violence at the Centre for Disease Control. There’s need for awareness because the cases are rampant,” she was quoted as saying by the paper.

Several African countries will participate in the event under the auspices of the UN. There is a pledge of money to every level that will be scaled and a $50,000 to the one who will reach the summit. The money will go towards the fight against gender-based violence in the country of origin of the winner.

Zambia is experiencing increased cases of gender-based violence. According to figures, there were 11, 908 such cases reported to the police in 2011, compared with 8,467 cases in 2010.