The Malawi Law Commission and National Initiative for Civic Education (Nice) have urged authorities, parents and primary school structures in Salima District to protect the rights of children.

The commission’s civic education officer Orama Maliro made the call on Monday during a training session at Mtemeiti Primary School in Traditional Authority Kambwiri.

He said there was need to protect children from abuse by raising awareness on their legal rights.

Said Maliro: “When children know different types of abuse, they can fight for their rights.

Learners pictured in a congested classroom

“We realised that people with basic education and those in urban areas know about their rights compared with people from rural areas.”

 He said they want to empower children in rural areas to defend their rights and to create a safe environment for them.

Nice Salima district civic education officer Queen Mataya said they are using a simplified manual on legal rights to enable the children grasp the basic concepts of the law.

She said: “The training content is centred on rights that safeguard children’s welfare such as the right to education and right to a decent livelihood.

“We know that under these legal rights children will be protected from abuse and we will empower them to report abuse.”

Mtemeiti Primary School head teacher Frank Tambala said learners who know about their rights are likely to report abuse.

“The initiative will also improve the collaboration between parents and teachers in the quest of protecting children from abuse,” he said.

The training sessions have been conducted in 40 primary schools in the district, targeting learners, mother groups, traditional and faith leaders as well as parents and teachers committees.

The training sessions are being conducted with funding from Unicef under the Joint Programme on Girls Education. n

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