Youth Net and Counselling (YONECO) has commended the police, district social welfare office and other stakeholders in the country for their commitment in promoting rights and welfare of the youth, women and children for 21 years.

YONECO Executive Director, MacBain Mkandawire expressed his appreciation on Saturday evening during an end of the year celebration at Annies Lodge in Zomba.

“We’re committed that 2019 should be a different year,” Mkandawire said while calling for renewed staff and stakeholder commitment, saying YONECO has been mandated to fulfill a number of activities.

“We will monitor government lean season programme,” he said, adding that the organisation has also been mandated to monitor activities in the tobacco farming with focus on child labour and general labour rights among the employees.

YONECO was established on August 13, 1997 and has 193 staff members on its payroll working in areas ranging from administration, field work,  YONECO radio and toll free line sections with a focus on the youth, women and children.

The organisation’s chairperson of board of trustees, Professor Dixie Maluwa Banda, commended YONECO staff for being key in the implementation of various projects that are meant to promote rights of the vulnerable.

He, therefore, called on the staff and stakeholders to stay focused and strive for success despite challenges in the course of discharging their duties.

Professor Maluwa Banda, who is also Executive Director of National Council for Higher Education, commended YONECO for being a local nongovernmental organization that has received a lot of recognition in and outside Malawi since its establishment.

The organisation has implemented various projects with funding from development partners such as European Union (EU), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the children’s fund UNICEF, World Food Programme (WFP) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID).