By Brian Longwe
Lilongwe-(MaraviPost)- There are expectations that vulnerable children being kept in rehabilitation centres will continue to face insecurity challenges if government fails to regulate and provide legal guidelines to the Child Care Institutions (CCI) in the country.
This comes as reports show that since 2005, Malawi government has been unable to set powerful laws and regulations to govern the Child Protection sector, hence, paving a way for even unregistered institutions to operate below the minimum standards.
According to the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC), it is so worrisome to learn that besides the existence of 169 CCIs, the country still experiencing a rise in number of Children human rights violation cases every year.
The newly appointed Commissioner for MHRC Stella Twea explains that children are likely to face abuses within the rehabilitation centres since government does not monitor how the institutions are operating.
Twea said; “There is lack of formal strategies to measure how many children are flocking into or out of the CCIs, or how many are being trafficked. Its like a free-for-all business. This puts lives of children at stake.”
Concurring with Twea, the National Family Strengthening Coordinator from SOS Children Village, Phillip Tegha highlights that in a gap of seven years from 2010 to 2017 there has been mushrooming of unregulated CCIs which have imposed negative outcomes to the Child Protection sector.
Commenting on the matter, the Deputy Director for Social welfare in the ministry of Gender, children and social welfare Yolam Chiwanda accepted the allegations but explained that the most important issue is to ensure that children are protected while in the centres.
Meanwhile, government through ministries of Gender, children and social welfare, and the ministry of justice, has made assurance to emphasize on the dissemination of Child Care Protection Justice Act, registration of Child Care Institutions and provision of legal guidelines and regulations in a mean time.