The Employers Consultative Association of Malawi (Ecam) in partnership with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on Thursday launched the Malawi Employers Task Force on Child Labour in a bid to end the vice.
The initiative, under the Accelerating Action for the Elimination of Child Labour in Supply Chains in Africa Project, is being funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In an interview on the sidelines of the launch at Ryalls Hotel in Blantyre, Ecam executive council member Annie Chavula observed that in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, households are engaging children in child labour for extra income to survive.
She said: “These children are our future and if they are working now, and especially in hazardous environments, then it is detrimental to their health and even their future.”
In a separate interview, ILO senior project officer Dylan Van Tromp said there is need to implement effective measures, including social protection, child labour monitoring and effective laws and regulations to end child labour in the country.
According to Tromp, if such effective measures are not put in place, there will be challenges in eliminating child labour tin the country. According to latest child labour global estimates, there are 160 million children 63 million girls and 97 million boys—who were in child labour globally at the beginning of 2020.
