Children shouldn’t live on streets—minister

Malawi yesterday joined the global community in commemorating the International Day of Street Children with a call by Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare Jean Kalilani to have street-connected children placed in homes.

In her remarks to mark the day which falls on April 12, Kalilani noted that there has been an increase in the number of street children in the country’s cities, a situation she described as worrisome.

She said: “In Blantyre and Lilongwe, we have about 5 000 street children and 3 000 of them are in the city of Lilongwe. I am sure that the population of Malawi can contain them.”

Kalilani added that some children found in the streets run away from their homes because of poverty, hunger and orphan-hood, among others.

She encouraged people in the country to adopt and send street-connected children to school for them to become valuable citizens.

In his remarks, Chisomo Children’s Club executive director Charles Gwengwe said there were about 10 000 street children in Malawi and that the number was growing by the day.

He said the problem could be resolved if all people in the country joined hands to remove the children from the street.

One of the children who were removed from the street Happy Banda, a second-year student at African Bible College (ABC) in Lilongwe, said not all the children found in the streets take it as their homes, but they are forced due to problems beyond their control.

He said he lived in the streets of Lilongwe for two years after he lost both parents and had nobody to assist him to complete his education until he was rescued by one of the charity organisations in the city.

Banda commended efforts by organisations and other families that have the heart to rescue street-connected children by giving them homes and a future.

The Ministry also launched a Customer Service Charter to provide policy guidelines for those that are working with street children and the Lilongwe Charter to allow people and organisations that are dealing with street children to join hands and work together.

Malawi was commemorating the day for the third time.