The Accelerating Action for the Elimination of Child Labour in Supply Chains in Africa (Accel Africa) says it is working to economically empower 500 women and men as well as providing viable vocational skills to 300 youth of legal working ages.

The programme worth $450 000 (about K585 million) is funded by the Netherlands Government and implemented by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) through its partner, Impact Centre for Economic Empowerment and Development (Iceed).

In a statement on Monday, Iceed executive director Madalitso Chidumu said they are committed to ensuring that the selection of beneficiaries is in line with the criteria developed by stakeholders in five beneficiary districts.

She said: “We have identified and verified 300 youths and 500 men and women for our one-year programme.

Chidumu: We have identified
and verified 300 youths

“The youth will be trained in viable vocation skills and the 500 adults will be provided with enterprise support to improve their economic status to enable them to support the education of their children.”

Accel Africa programme, which seeks to contribute to the reduction of child labour in supply chains in Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, Nigeria, Mali, Uganda and Malawi, addresses child labour in tea and coffee supply chains.

The beneficiaries in the lowest tier of the coffee and tea supply chains will be drawn from Chitipa, Mzimba, Ntchisi, Mulanje and Thyolo districts.

Mulanje district labour officer Edward Shafi said that the Accel Africa Programme, through Iceed, is addressing the root cause of child labour, which he described as low economic status of smallholder farmers.

He said that once economically empowered, the programme will have the capacity to employ adults and send their children to school.

In the programme, Iceed in collaboration with district labour officers and members of the District Child Labour Committees in the targeted districts recently undertook a beneficiary verification exercise to ensure that they are selected within the set criteria.

Mzimba district labour officer Russell Mhone said that most coffee farmers in Khosolo in Mzimba produce low quantities of coffee and to supplement incomes, they can risk their children to child labour situations.

Iceed is implementing the project in collaboration with coffee cooperatives, tea associations, Technical Entrepreneurial and Vocational Education Training Authority with oversight of key ministries of Labour and Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare.

According to the 2015 National Child Labour Survey conducted by the National Statistical Office, an estimated 38 percent of children in Malawi are in child labour situations.

The post Firm moves to curb child labour, empower youths appeared first on The Nation Online.