National Children Commission has urged Chitipa District Council to invest in children as they are the foundation of family and the nation.
Commissioner Lucy Kachapila said this on Wednesday in the district during dissemination of National Children Act to the District Executive Committee (DEC) members.
She said Parliament passed the Children Act in 2019 and which outlined the commission’s functions.
Said Kachapaila: “The Act says most of the children’s rights are being violated and the Act has stipulated the penalties for violating them.
to Maseko. I Aliko Munde
“Therefore, we needed to inform DEC members so that they are not taken unawares.”
She also said the commission believes that the Act must be disseminated down to community level.
“The Children Act cannot be just thrown away, but we should go to the community where decentralisation is happening. We work together to ensure that children’s rights are being respected in Chitipa,” said Kachapila.
Chitipa District Council director of economic planning and development Philemon Maseko welcomed the Act, saying it is an important law as far as children’s rights are concerned.
He said the information needs to go down to community level for ordinary people to know the Act.
“There is need for a provision to translate the Act into Chitipa languages,” said Maseko.
Clement Mtambo, a resident from Traditional Authority Kameme, said it was important that government decided to operationalise the Act to protect children from various forms of abuse.
The National Children Commission was established in 2019 and became fully functional in 2024 after the appointment and swearing-in of its commissioners with a primary role of safeguarding the well-being of children in Malawi and ensuring the country adheres to its commitments under international child rights agreements.
