An appeal has gone out to young people in the country to desist from engaging in behaviours that can ruin their future.

Chief Executive Officer of Silver House Vanessa Phiri made the plea on Sunday in Lilongwe during Njuchi Music Festival at Likuni Boys Ground targeting students from primary and secondary schools.

According to Phiri, the festival which was organised under the “Promoting Grassroot Education for All” was aimed at encouraging young people to stay focused towards achieving their goals.

She said: “We observed that there is a high rate of school dropouts and you always find children loitering around during school time that’s why we focused on this area.”

Phiri added that the Organisation plans to be conducting similar events in future.

During the festival, representatives from Youth Net and Counselling (YONECO) – Lilongwe office were given space to speak about child protection and how communities can report child rights violation cases.

The officers highlighted on the ills of child labour, defilement and a list of other abuses children suffer at the hands of perpetrators.

Youths who patronised the event were also made aware of child abuse reporting mechanisms including YONECO’s Helpline toll free lines 116, 5600 and 6600.

YONECO provided free airtime for the festival’s promotion messages as part of its contribution.