By Isaac Salima:
Preliminary findings that a research project that National Institutes for Health Research Global Health Group on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing in Malawi implemented have revealed that there are increasing cases of child abandonment in Malawi.
This is said to be leading to child marriages.
Local Principal Investigator Effie Chipeta said this is culminating in children fending for themselves instead of being in school and doing other productive things.
“We have found that some parents just abandon their children, such that they [children] end up taking care of themselves. For instance, in Mchinji, we have found that there are more child-headed families [than adult-headed ones] while other children stay with grandparents who have no source of support. The other challenge is early marriage where, due to lack of support, children end up marrying,” she said.
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She further said that they are conducting the survey in the two districts to get a picture of the problem in urban and rural settings.
“For instance, in Blantyre, which is an urban area, we have found that drug and substance abuse is one of the major things happening among adolescents. Most adolescents also lack parental care and end up in cities seeking alms,” she said.
Meanwhile, Director of Youth in the Ministry of Youth and Sports Judith Msusa, who is co-chairperson for the project, described the project as significant.
“It is trying to give us information on the health and wellbeing of adolescents. There are areas that have been highlighted like the issue of lack of coordination in the delivery of services and we will pick that issue up,” Msusa said.
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The four-year project runs from 2022 to 2026.
