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Malawi |
CHILDREN
A new law to rescue children from back-breaking labour
The number of pupils in primary schools continues to dwindle despite a free primary school programme launched by the United Democratic Front (UDF) administration eight years ago, to check illiteracy and mould a better life for the future generation.
It is said that poverty in many families keeps children away from school. Children also suffer exploitation through child labour, in order to supplement the incomes of their poor families.
At the end of 2001, the Norwegian Institute of Applied Social Sciences, released a report which found that two-thirds of children working on the tobacco estates were under the age of ten. This supported earlier findings that many children accompany their parents to work, and have to labour in hazardous conditions, inhaling chemicals. They are also subjected to tedious tea-picking tasks for hours on end.
The report also reveals rampant sexual abuse of children in the Lake Malawi resort districts frequented by tourists. Some tourists are said to lure small girls with monetary gifts to coax them into sex. Prior to the survey, traditional leaders were quoted in the newspapers, as complaining of tourists who send children to buy drugs for them, notably cannabis (hemp) locally known as «chamba».
The Norwegian study, which was published together with a similar UNICEF project, says that Malawi has one of the highest incidence of child labour in the world.
UNICEF is monitoring a pilot study project in some districts of the central and northern regions of the country. As part of its awareness project, UNICEF is educating local government officials (ward, town and district councillors) on the bad effects of child labour.
Horrifying situation of child labour
Recently, in Parliament, Alice Sumani, Minister of Labour and Vocational Training, urged Members to lobby for legislation which will protect children. Such legislation will only come about after a Bill has been presented to Parliament for enactment into law.
Minister Sumani states: «The results of the survey paint a horrifying picture on the situation of child labour in Malawi. We would like the law to protect the rights of children and check their exploitation».
Tobacco and tea are Malawi’s main export commodities, with many of the tea estates employing under-aged children. Tobacco alone accounts for 80 percent of the country’s foreign exchange revenue and contributes 35 percent to the GDP. The tobacco industry employs up to 7 million people in its various sectors. Children’s rights activists say that many tobacco estates employ children as their core labour force. Children often work on the tobacco plantations without protective clothing, and go barefoot.
Emma Tamandani, 31, a mother of three, is a worker on the Mchima Tea Estate in Thyolo District, southern Malawi. This is one of the country’s major tea and coffee producing areas. She states that she has no choice but to work for long unpaid hours together with her eldest son, Chipiriro, who is eight-years-old. She says: «Sometimes, if we tell our employer that the child is sick, he’s still made to work. Most of our overtime hours are not paid for. In fact, I’ve still to receive my December pay.»
Concerned organisation and government departments such as UNICEF, the Malawi Trade Unions Congress (MCTU), the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training and the National Statistic’s Office are working together to raise awareness about the evils of child labour.
Harry Chiliwaya is a temporary primary teacher at Mimosa School, Mulanje tea growing district. He told a district committee meeting that estates were taking most of the children who were supposed to be in school, and this is an on-going situation because of the prevailing poverty. He said: «Poverty is the main problem because we have many widowed mothers who cannot fend for themselves».
However, efforts are being made to end the practice of child labour. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) put its weight behind the campaign to end child labour, when last year, it threatened a trade embargo against countries which exploit child labour. In Malawi, the ILO warned the tobacco, tea and coffee estates that they risked sanctions by their practice of employing under-aged children.
Martin Mononga is a senior official at the Ministry of Labour. He says: «We have issued all our officers with warrant cards to enter any premises suspected of employing small children».
Surely a step in the right direction.
- Hobbs Gama, Malawi, April 2002 — © Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgment
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PeaceLink 2002 - Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgement