The Minister made the remarks on Monday in Lilongwe as she launched the National Child Protection month intended to advocate for more resources for addressing child protection challenges facing children.

“Social welfare officers are supposed to be monitoring every district, coordinating with community leaders, and collecting case reports which are not the case on the ground as people call me directly to give me case reports because the social welfare officers are not doing the work that they are supposed to,” she lamented.

Kaliati added that the launch of the new initiative would require reports from the social welfare officers in the districts or face removal to allow others who are committed to doing the work.

“Those who are the custodians and expected to bring peace, unity, and provide protection to their subjects are the perpetrators of rape and defilement,” she stated.

The Minister stated that defilement cases have increased from 1,293 in 2018 to 1,738 in 2020 including a specific case of a Village Headman from Madisi Dowa, who defiled a girl and was charged to only pay a goat as punishment.

“The annual National Child Protection month will mobilize stakeholders including parents, Community Based Organizations(CBO), community leaders, religious leaders, and the general public to take action in ensuring all children are protected from violence, abuse, exploitation, neglect, trafficking and child marriage,” she explained.

The Ministry has developed a public letter to be read in all churches and mosques, in addition to the use of other platforms such as social media, radio, and television to call for action to protect the child.

Written By: Lily Kampani-MANA