Article By: Lloyd M’bwana
The Malawi Interfaith AIDS Association (MIAA) in conjunction with government through Ministry of Gender, Disability and Social Welfare has launched the new campaign on violence against children which is expected to be scaled up across the nation.
The campaign launch comes barely three weeks after this year’s (2015) United Nation Development Programm (UNDP) Gender Equality Index Report ranked Malawi 170 out of 187 countries globally with several cases on children right violation which needs urgent attention.
The UNDP report revealed that 46 percent of women once in their child age were sexually assaulted whose short impact are early pregnancies and marriages, and school drought out on the part of children while on women including psychological instabilities which lead to prostitution.
Therefore, with funding from UNICEF, the campaign launch coincided with The World Day of Prayer and Action for Children which falls on December 20, every year, tend to engage faith institution in promoting children promotion as a spiritual obligation that everyone is called to observe by God or Allah.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Maravi Post on Sunday, in the capital Lilongwe after the launch, Patricia Kaliati, Minister of Gender emphasized the need for religious leaders taking their sermons as platform for preaching on children and women rights.
Minister Kaliati observed that the battle against ending violence on children is vested in togetherness including various religious grouping whereby Holy Scriptures’ teachings could change the mind of the perpetrators of violence.
“All along, the fight against violence on children happened to exclude religious groupings, now that we are with them, it means, God’s intervention will be with us in this fight because His mighty hand always brings hope to his children.
“Holy Scriptures in all religious platforms will include child right protection messages in a bid to change the mind of the perpetrator violence on young people as to have a free generation. Apart from churches, mosques, the campaign will scape up in homes, schools and other social gathering for an effective attitude change”, assures Kaliati.
Brendan Ross, UNICEF Malawi’s Children Protection Specialist assured the implementing partners of the campaign with total financial and technical support for research among other that violence against children is come to rest.
Echoing on the same, Reverend Gilford Matonga, MIAA Chairperson who is also Secretary General for Malawi Council of Churches (MCC) expressed gratitude over the involvement of the religious grouping saying the battle was likely to be won considering that the sector constitutes 90% of Malawians.
“With various religious grouping involvement in fight again violence on children, expect great change in people’s minds that happen to be our flock which constitutes 90%. This means that most of violence against children is perpetuated by believers and therefore, Holy Scriptures teaching will start dwelling much on children rights and how those rights can be protected”, explains Reverend Matonga.
The 2015 United Nation Development Program (UNDP) Gender Equality Index Report collaborates with the 2013 Violence Against Children and Young Women Survey (VACS) revealed that two out of three (10, 066,867) Malawians experience violence in childhood, one in five girl (686,607.2) were sexually abused before the age of 18 and nearly two out of three boys (2,327,368.67) suffered physical violence before the age of 18.
The VACS survey therefore calls all people to take action in order to engage in effective social and behavior change interventions in communities to eradicate violence against children hence involvement of faith community to contribute towards promotion of child protection including physical, social and spiritual needs through the teachings of the Holly Scriptures.
