Deputy Director for Gender Mainstreaming in the Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare Ronald Phiri has said the review of the Gender Equality and the Child Care, Protection and Justice acts has reached an advanced stage.
The ministry is championing the review of gender and child protection laws to ensure that they speak to each other, apart from aligning them with the Constitution.
Speaking in Mponera, Dowa District, on Monday on the first day of a two-day meeting of the team that is conducting the review, Phiri said there are emerging issues to do with gender equality and child protection that need to be taken on board.
Amref Health Africa is financially supporting the exercise through the Power to The Youth Project.
“We have drafted the Gender Equality and Child Care, Protection and Justice amendment bills and, so far, we have engaged technical experts and other stakeholders to build a consensus on the laws.
“The engagement we are having is allowing us to share updates regarding the progress we have made so far,” Phiri said.
He added that the team will engage leaders of institutions so that they can provide their feedback on the reviewed laws.
Phiri also admitted that funding has been a challenge to the process and hailed Amref Health Africa for taking up the role of supporting the exercise.
Duncan Zikagwa, who is from the Ministry of Justice, said the review is important as it will enhance the laws, in terms of protecting children and promoting gender equality.
“It was noted that in the Child Care, Protection and Justice Act, a child is someone under the age of 16 while in the Constitution, a child is defined as someone below the age of 18.
“This means there is a gap, in terms of people protected by the law,” Zikagwa said.
He also said the team has proposed that the Gender Equality Act should be amended to include provisions for the protection of whistle-blowers, among others.
The team has members from the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Labour, Office of the President and Cabinet, Department of Human Resources Management and Development, the Law Commission and the media, among others.
