Malawi’s Commissioner of Labour, Hlalerwayo Kelvin Nyangulu, has disclosed that the country is making significant progress in eliminating child labour in tea and tobacco industries.
But Nyangulu has lamented that the country is still grappling with the vice in the informal sector where many children turn to in response to the combined effects of Covid-19 pandemic and the recent cyclones, including Tropical Cyclone Freddy.
“In terms of actions, we’re doing our best. But as I said, we have also met some unforeseen situations such as the COVID the Cyclones. We may not totally eliminate child labor, but in some sectors or register some reduction. For example, we have many programs in the tobacco sector. So, some sectors register progress. For example, the informal sector due to the devastation occasioned by sacred Friday for example, the impact was quite huge for the information. So when you look at the informal sector, outside the sectors mentioned, we may register unequal results,” he said.
The Commissioner of Labour made the sentiments at Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe on Tuesday when he presided over the Malawi High Level Meeting on Child Labour. The meeting, which received financial support from the International Labour Organization (ILO), also coincided with the launch of the National Alliance 8.7 Strategic Roadmap.
He said Ministry of Labour has since embarked on a survey to gauge the prevalence of child labour in the informal.
Nyangulu disclosed that Malawi last conducted a survey on child labour in 2015, which revealed that there was a 38 percent prevalence rate of child labor in the country.
The other one was done in 2002, which showed the prevalence at 39 percent.
However, Nyangulu stated that the Government of Malawi has done a commendable job in the elimination of forced labor, modern slavery, trafficking in persons and Western forms of child labor, including use, recruitment and use of child soldiers, which is in line with the expectations of the Alliance 8.7.
“Malawi voluntarily joined the alliance 8.7 in 2019. And basically, by joining the Alliance 8.7 means that Malawi committed to accelerate action for the elimination of forced labor, child labor, modern slavery, slavery, trafficking and the worst forms of child labor. And I can share with you what we’re doing in terms of actions to eliminate vices for doing very well in the sense that we have a number of programs that we are implementing to accelerate action. One of them is a program called ACCEL, which is basically fighting child labor through value chains, particularly in the tea industry,” he said.
He added that, in partnership with partners such as Plan International, Save the Children, Employers Consultative Association of Malawi (ECAM) and Teachers Union of Malawi, the Ministry of Labour is implementing various interventions to address the problem.
Nyangulu highlighted a program called ADDRESS, which is targeting the tobacco sector and other programs being facilitated by various players, including tobacco and tea-buying companies.
In his remarks, ECAM Executive Director George Khaki said asked the government to upscale social protection interventions, stressing that this is key in arresting the problem of child labour in Malawi.
Khaki observed that the increase of children entering the job market, whether in formal or informal sectors, is a result of the loss of jobs many Malawians suffered when companies closed due to the effects of Covid-19 pandemic.
“The government needs to put in place deliberate strategies, I think simply to expand the social protection programs, as we had during the recent mid-year budget evaluation. But on the other side, I think our government needs to put in measures and strategies that will allow the industry in the private sector to be able to go through these difficult and challenging times. One of the measures would be to ensure that the government reduces borrowing so that it does not crowd out the private sector from borrowing from the banks and that the government is borrowing less,” he said.
