AFRICA/MALAWI - World day against child labor, the Bishop of Zomba: "Protecting children, in the light of the Gospel"

Saturday, 12 June 2021 children   child labor  

Zomba (Agenzia Fides) - "In the current health emergency situation, many children and young people are forced to go to work to help their families in conditions of extreme poverty. In many cases it is a question of forms of slavery and imprisonment, with serious physical and psychological suffering". This is what Mgr. George Desmond Tambala, Bishop of the diocese of Zomba, in Malawi told Fides, on the occasion of the Day against the exploitation of child labor, which is celebrated all over the world on June 12th.
Although in Malawi the constitutional rules establish the rights and protection of children, adolescents and young people, in the African country 89% of children and adolescents are affected, in some way, by poverty, some forms of child labor or cannot access to education, information, housing, water and sanitation. According to the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) there are almost 80 thousand children, between the ages of five and fourteen: "many of them work on tobacco plantations - reports Mgr. George - with shifts of up to twelve hours, for less than two cents per hour".
Government data reveals that in 2019 there were 2.4 million children and adolescents, aged 5 to 17, engaged in child labor, representing 6% of the population (18.63 million) in this age group. Between 2007 and 2020, 300 children and adolescents aged 5 to 17 died and 28,000 suffered serious accidents at work. During the same period, 47,500 children and adolescents suffered some kind of health damage as a result of work.
The Church in Malawi joins the institutions in the work of preventing and eradicating child labor, supporting various initiatives in this sense, together with various institutions and entities of civil society. The goal is to raise awareness of the large number of families with children who, far from school and childhood, work in unworthy conditions. "It is important to demonstrate - observes Mgr. Tambala - that child labor is one of the most harmful forms of exploitation for the full development of human beings and a serious violation of the fundamental rights of children and adolescents. The protection of minors - he concludes - is an integral part of the Gospel message. It is necessary to create a safe environment for them, giving priority to their interests". (ES) (Agenzia Fides, 12/6/2021)


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