Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Malawi (Ratification: 1999)

Article 5 of the Convention. Monitoring mechanisms. Child labour monitoring system. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information, in its report, that the Child Labour Monitoring System (CLMS) was piloted in some districts, but that the process stalled and that the Ministry of Labour is currently working with the ILO to revive the process and make the system operational country wide. The Committee requests the Government to continue to enhance and strengthen the labour inspection system in all sectors in order to provide detailed statistical information on the number and nature of violations reported concerning children and young persons involved in the worst forms of child labour. In this regard, it requests the Government to continue providing information regarding the establishment and operationalization of the CLMS, as well as on the measures taken by the CLMS to combat the worst forms of child labour.

Articles 5, 6 and 7(2)(a) and (b). Monitoring mechanisms, programmes of action and effective and time-bound measures to provide the necessary and appropriate direct assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour. National Plan of Action against Trafficking in Persons (NPA TIP) 2017–22. Regarding its previous request to provide information on the results achieved by the implementation of the NPA TIP in terms of strengthening of law enforcement, prevention and support to victims, the Committee notes that the Government provides some information in its report under the Forced Labour Convention, 1931 (No. 29). The Government indicates that the National Coordination Committee (NCC) undertook a number of activities, including building the capacity of law enforcement officers in order for them to professionally discharge their duties, as outlined by the Trafficking in Persons Act, 2015; developing a communication strategy to raise awareness on trafficking in persons and monitoring the conditions of the shelters where trafficking victims are placed in Lilongwe, Zomba, Mchinji and Blantyre. In addition, Technical Working Groups on trafficking in persons have been established in eight districts to coordinate activities related to trafficking at district and local levels. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the measures taken to combat trafficking, particularly by building the capacity of law enforcement officers, preventing child trafficking, and providing for appropriate services and assistance to child victims of trafficking, and on the results achieved. It also requests the Government to indicate whether it intends to renew the NPA TIP or adopt a new plan of action on trafficking, and on the progress achieved in this regard.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (d). Identifying children at special risk. Child orphans of HIV/AIDS and other vulnerable children (OVCs). Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information that it has scaled up social protection programmes, including social cash transfers, as well as village savings and loans, which now cover more families. The Committee further notes that one of the main objectives of the National Plan of Action against Child Labour (NPA) 2020–25 is to mitigate the impact of chronic illnesses and HIV and AIDS in inducing child labour. In this regard, several activities are planned, including raising awareness about HIV/AIDS; establishing a referral system on HIV for children identified and at risk of child labour; linking families affected by HIV to social protection mechanisms; and training households affected by HIV on nutrition and healthy living.

The Committee notes, however, that, since it last took note of the estimated 350,000 children under the age of 17 years orphaned due to HIV/AIDS in 2017, this number has reached an estimated 540,000 in 2021, according to the latest statistics from UNAIDS. Noting with concern the increase in the number of OVCs who have been orphaned due to HIV/AIDS, the Committee recalls that OVCs are at greater risk of being involved in the worst forms of child labour. While noting the various measures taken by the Government, the Committee once again requests the Government to strengthen its efforts to protect child victims and orphans of HIV/AIDS from the worst forms of child labour. It requests the Government to provide information on the impact of the various initiatives undertaken by the Government, including through the implementation of the NPA 2020-25, in particular in terms of the number of OVCs who have been reached through such initiatives.

Street children. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information in its report under the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), that the Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare, continues to undertake a number of initiatives, in particular measures to remove children begging on the street and reunite them with their parents or guardians or place them under the appropriate care of Government or NGOs.

While taking due note of this information, the Committee observes that the document of the NPA 2020-25 refers to a 2015 study that reveals that there were 2,389 and 1,776 children in street situations in the cities of Lilongwea and Blantyre alone, and that the total number of street children in the country is much higher. The study revealed that the following factors force children onto the streets in Malawi: (i) poverty; (ii) the desire to support their parents, siblings and others relatives; (iii) family disintegration; and (iv) the experience of violence, neglect and abuse within their households. The Committee therefore observes that taking measures to ensure that children are prevented, and not only withdrawn, from street situations, is critical to ensuring the effective eradication of this issue.

In this regard, one of the objectives of the NPA is to engage in direct action to combat child labour through prevention, withdrawal, rehabilitation and re-integration of children, and activities planned to achieve this objective include the provision of income-generating activities targeting poor families, including child-headed households and the inspection of places, including as domestic homes, to identify child labour cases. Moreover, in the context of the revision of the legal and policy framework intended by the NPA, a review of the inspection form of the labour inspectorate is planned, with a view to including explicitly children on the streets. The Committee strongly encourages the Government to strengthen its efforts to prevent and protect children from street situations, and requests it to provide information on the impact of the measures taken in this regard, including through the NPA 2020–25, in terms of the number of children in street situations who have been protected or withdrawn from the worst forms of child labour and rehabilitated and socially reintegrated.