"As of now we can say that cases of violence against children have decreased if we compare with last year this year we have registered 160 cases while last year during the same period over 300 cases were registered the decline is mainly due to support from partners", said Nangwale.

 

Nangwale however said the covid19 pandemic has negatively affected efforts to eradicate violence against children as they have cases of underage marriages which were fueled by closure of schools.

 

"We have also been affected, a number of girls dropped out of school when they were closed especially last year when over 700  early marriages were reported", said Nangwale.

 

He said other cases like defilement have also risen due to the pandemic.

 

Lack of incentives for volunteers doing child protection work is also a cause of concern for Nangwale.

 

" Over dependence on volunteers has really affected us as social welfare we have 34 child protection workers but out of these 27 are volunteers therefore this has also affected us as these volunteers are able to balance whether to be involved in voluntary work or work to sustain their livelihoods as here in Mzimba trained volunteers leave for South Africa in search for greener pastures",said Nangwale.

 

Meanwhile other organizations have also stepped up the violence against children fight by promoting the necessary interventions that protect children.

 

Communities In Development Activities COIDA for example is currently implementing a spotlight initiative project with funding from UNDP aimed at harmonizing tools used in collecting data on gender based violence and also facilitates mobile court sessions.