Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) says hesitation and negligence to implement the child protection laws and policies is leading to the failure to promote children’s rights in the country.
MHRC Director of Children’s Rights Norris Mangulama Chirwa, said this as the country has clocked 26years since it signed and adopted the Children’s Rights Charter.
“It is very disappointing to see that the defilement cases are still on an increase, child abuse and the like. As a country we are not doing enough in promoting our children’s rights,” she said.
Chirwa revealed that recent studies by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) indicates that two out of five children under the age of 18 are being defiled and married off every day and that Malawi’s rate of child marriage is at 47 percent.
She described the underlined statistics as a really a bad development.
“The country has very good laws and policies that aim at protecting and promoting children’s rights. We have signed various agreements and adopted so many treaties on the same, but then we fail to utilize such available opportunities wisely,” she explained.
Malawi adopted the Children’s Rights Charter in the year 1991 with the aim of promoting the fundamental birth rights of children and improve their welfare.
