Policy makers urged to include children’s voices

Unicef acting country representative Jane Muita has urged policy and decision makers to include voices of children, adolescents and youths when making decisions on issues that affect them in Malawi.

 Speaking in an interview after opening a stakeholders meeting on Post 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Consultations with Children Adolescents and Youth in Lilongwe on Wednesday, Muita said young people’s aspirations are better served when they are represented in any policy formulation exercise.

Muita said young people have the capacity to interpret their experiences and translate them into real and sustainable strategies and interventions that are invaluable in the pursuit of human rights.

Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare Mary Shawa said Malawi is a model country in taking views of children for inclusion into important national decisions.

One of the children who spoke at the function, Benjamin Taumbe of Chimutu Primary School in Lilongwe, said children grow well in families where they are provided with all basic necessities including parental care, spiritual support 
and provision of better education.