Chirwa
Employers’ Association of Malawi (ECAM) has trained employers from private sector on issues of child labour, mainly on how the employers can help in combating child labour.
The Employers who have been trained are going to be champions who will train other employers on issues of child labour.
Speaking after the training, ECAM Executive Council member Orphan Mapopa Chirwa said as ECAM they brought together employers from private sector so that they can play a big part in combating Child labour abuse in the Country.
“We are targeting specifically five districts in Malawi which are Mulanje, Thyolo, Chitipa, Mzimba as well Ntchisi. So once these people are trained what is going to happen is that they will be champions that will be going to train other employers on issues of child abuse and I think as Employers’ Consultative Association of Malawi this is going to combat the problem that we have in Malawi,” said Chirwa.
According to Chirwa, the issue of child labour in Malawi is very serious and the unfortunate part of it is that not many people know all forms of child abuse and because of that some of the people engage in child abuse unknowingly.
He added that the workshop is therefore meant to bring to light all different forms of child labour abuse.
In his remarks, Chief Labour officer at the Ministry of Labour Francis Kwenda said the training is very critical because employers are also very key when it comes to issues of Child labour elimination.
“These employers are the ones who are mostly known as culprits of engaging children in different economic activities. Therefore, coming up with this training will make sure that all the employers are taken on board to understand the essence of fighting child labour,” said Kwenda.
Chisomo Lamya, an employer from the Food Company Limited (Maldeco Fisheries) who was one of the participants at the training. said he has learnt a lot on child labour, especially knowing who is a child and the difference between child work and child labour.
“As an employer I have learnt the causes and effects of child labour. I have been equipped with knowledge and skills which will assist me to lead the issues in fighting child labour in my organisation. The very first thing I will do after this training is to do awareness about child labour to management and the entire organization. I will propose to have or mainstream child labour polices with the company policies. Putting in place policies which are protecting children’s rights will go a long way to end child labour,” said Lamya.
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