International Labour Organisation (ILO) has commended strides by players in the country’s tea industry towards ending child labour.
ILO Chief Technical Advisor for Accelerating Action for the Elimination of Child Labour (ACCEL) in Supply Chains in Africa Minoru Ogasawara was speaking in Blantyre during a Tea-Triangular: Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, and the Netherlands knowledge-sharing workshop to combat child labour in the tea value chain.
“This is really impressive progress in the fight against child labour in the tea value chain. There is coordination between the government, workers organisations, employers’ organisations and the Tea Association of Malawi to employ various interventions to end child labour.
“The issue is really raising awareness among people working in the informal economy setting but also reaching out in terms of law enforcement,” Ogasawara said.
Kenya’s Deputy Labour Commissioner in the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection Christy Otieno said Malawi offers vast lessons to tea producing countries.
“There is also a strong involvement of traditional leaders and mother groups and also from workers and employers’ organisations,” Otieno said.
Employers Consultative Association of Malawi Communications and Projects Officer Ellen Ziwoya Phiri said raising awareness among members and employers remains key in fighting the vice.
Secretary for Labour Wezie Kaira lamented Malawi’s removal in the second phase of the ACCEL Africa Project after numerous interventions were lined up and some were not completed.
Information available on ILO website indicates that child labour continues to be a challenge in Malawi where 2.12 million children, representing 38 percent of all children aged 5-17, are engaged in child labour.
It says some 1.16 million children, or 20.9 percent, are in-volved in hazardous work.
Agriculture and related sub-sectors alone account for 66.2 percent of children engaged in hazardous work.
