Government has called upon chiefs in the country to be agents of change in eradicating harmful cultural practices affecting children in their respective areas.
Deputy Minister responsible for Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare Agnes Mkusa-Nkhoma made the plea this on Thursday in Lilongwe on sidelines of launch of the Day of the African Child Commemoration 2022.
According to Mkusa-Nkhoma, chiefs are custodians of culture and it is important for them to only uphold good cultural practices and eliminate those deemed harmful.
She said: “In this regard, Paramount Chiefs, Senior Chiefs, Religious leaders, Traditional healers, and policy makers need to join hands in order to end harmful practices.
This has been the song for the past decade but there seem to be very little change. All of us need to start acting differently. The period of doing things in a business as usual mode is over. We need to account to the children of Malawi.”
In an interview, one of the children – Liness Harrison said there is need for concerted efforts if the country is deal with the vice.
During the launch, officers from Youth Net and Counselling (YONECO) led by Central Region Programmes Manager Hughes Tawanda Munthali demonstrated how mobile school operates and why it is a significant tool to use when educating children especially those connected to the streets.
Save the Children Country Director Kim Koch said it is everyone’s responsibility to make sure that children are free from any form of abuse.
“I think it’s not just chiefs, we all have to take responsibility and hold each other accountable for preventing harmful practices against children.
This includes not letting children get married before the age of 18 children are not brides, they are not parents. Children need to be children, they need their education and they shouldn’t be married early,” said Koch.
This year’s theme is: “Eliminating Harmful Practices Affecting Children: Progress on Policy and Practice since 2013”.
Apart from the launch, the commemoration also saw an interface meeting between children and stakeholders including launch of Child-friendly Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) document.
