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Malawi |
CHILDREN
The Malawi
Demographic and Health Survey report for the year 2000,
indicates that although improving, the rate of child mortality in Malawi is
still high
The report released, by the National Statistical Office (NSO) in April this year, reveals that one out of every five children fails to reach the age of five. The reports goes on to state that «about 40% of all infant deaths in Malawi occur within the babies’ first month of life (neo-natal mortality)».
On a more encouraging note, the report says 82% of new-born children, were borne by mothers who had received tetanus toxoid vaccinations during pregnancy in order to prevent their infants dying from neonatal tetanus. It also says 70% of children aged between 12-23 months, had received a full series of vaccinations. 93% percent of recently borne babies received some form of antenatal care from a trained professional — 84% by nurses/midwives and about 8% from doctors».
Regarding the actual moment of birth, the report states: «Doctors or nurse/midwives assisted at the delivery of around 56% of all recent births in Malawi. In urban areas, doctors and nurses/midwives assisted at the delivery of 82% of recent births compared with 52% in rural areas».
Malawi has a population of about ten million. Over 65% of the total population are reckoned to be living below the poverty line. In the survey, heights and weights of children under five were measured in order to estimate levels of their nutritional status. The results show that 49% of the under-fives were too short for their age, while 6% were severely under weight — they weighed too little for their hight. Similar results were obtained in the 1992 Demographic and Health Survey.
Data obtained, shows that children living in rural areas of Malawi (where the majority earn less than a dollar a day) were twice as likely to be stunted as children living in urban areas. Similarly, a child whose mother had no formal education, was about three times more likely to be severely stunted than a child whose mother had attended secondary school or some other kind of senior educational establishment.
Child labour
The Malawi Demographic and Health Survey (MDHS) report also tackled the subject of child labour. Survey findings reveal that about 9% of all children aged between 5-14 years were working for non-relatives. The most saddening thing is that two-thirds of these worked for no pay at all, so the situation is nothing more than a form of slavery. Because the children are so young they have nothing to say. They are victims of exploitation. Those who do get some kind of pay for their toil earn less than five dollars per month. The report reckoned that around 19% of child labourers were working in and around family homes or on family farms. The survey also indicated that 44% of all children, even those attending school, had to give four hours or more, to domestic chores per day.
As most school children in Malawi spend at least five hours each day in school, this, added to the four hours domestic work, means they have nine hours of continuous work.
One wonders if Malawi’s children ever have time to be just children!
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