'No Child Should Grow Up Alone' Campaign Launches in Malawi
The National Director for SOS Children's Villages in Malawi says the campaign stems from alarming data acquired from African Union member states, including Malawi.
LILONGWE, Malawi- SOS Children's Villages in Malawi, in partnership with several child rights organizations, launched a "No Child Should Grow Up Alone" campaign in the country from Monday, May 6 to May 31, 2024, writes Martin Kamlaike.
The announcement was made on Monday in Lilongwe at a press conference organized by SOS Children's Villages in Malawi and its partners, NGO Coalition on Child Rights (NGOCCR), National Youth Network on Climate Change (NYNCC), Joining Forces for Children, and the Citizen Alliance (CA).
According to Smart Namagonya, National Director for SOS Children's Villages in Malawi, the campaign stems from alarming data acquired from African Union member states, including Malawi, indicating that several children have lost parental care and are not being cared for.
"We have got figures that are so alarming, where we have a lot of children being taken care of by one parent, single parent, it's either a mother or father, and this is so alarming," Namagonya said.
"So, basically, what we are promoting is in line with the UN guidelines on alternative care to say that children need to be supported to grow in families where both parents exist or where something similar to a family-like environment, where a mother or father provide support to such type of children," he continued.
Namagonya said the campaign also aims to lobby the government to increase financial allocation to support children's initiatives in the country, citing gaps such as a lack of collaboration within the civil society sector and low budget allocation toward children's initiatives.
"When you even look at the budgets from government, you will realize that the allocation of budgets on supporting children's initiatives is on the lower side," he said.
"There is a need to lobby the government because the problem is enormous, and we think by lobbying the government, they may allocate more resources to such programs, which could help alleviate the situation."
Henry Machemba, National Coordinator for NGOCCR, pleaded with the government to operationalize the Child Care, Protection and Justice Act, which guides child care and protection but has been stalled due to pending regulations since 2014.
"The Act was enacted in 2010, but for this act to be operationalized, there was a need for regulations, and the regulations were drafted around 2014. Unfortunately, up until now, the regulations are still in draft form," Machemba said.
"We have pushed the government, like the relevant ministries, ministry of gender, and ministry of justice, but they keep pushing responsibility to each other. Yet in these regulations, there are comprehensive provisions for taking care of children, including children living without parental care."
According to Namagonya, who is also the chair for the children's rights groups, planned activities for the campaign include disseminating results from the Continental Study on Children Without Parental Care in Africa, commissioned and launched by the African Union, and the 2022-2026 Malawi National Plan of Action for Vulnerable Children in Malawi in November 2023.