COMMITTEE ON RIGHTS OF CHILD CONSIDERS INITIAL REPORT OF MALAWI

CRC
29th session
24 January 2002
Morning






Malawi Has Achieved Substantial Advances on all Grounds
in Addressing Child Rights, Delegation Says


The Committee on the Rights of the Child this afternoon started its consideration of an initial report from Malawi by hearing a Government delegation saying that the country has made substantial advances on all grounds in addressing issues of child rights.

The report was introduced by Trifonia Dafter, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Social and Community Services of Malawi, who said that concerning education, for example, apart from providing free primary education, measures had been put in place to sort out recurrent problems that affected children in school directly. She also said that current programmes placed access to general basic education at the centre of poverty reduction strategies. Funding for the 4,765 primary schools around the country was steadily being increased. The Government was now grappling with the problem of disparity in access to education between boys and girls, she added.

Mrs. Dafter noted that the health status of Malawians was highly affected by the prevalence of HIV/AIDS; the general prevalence of HIV/AIDS amongst the whole population was estimated at 8.8 per cent; in the age group of 15-49, HIV/AIDS affected 16.5 per cent. The health situation had had very negative effects on several government programmes as the Government had had to provide additional resources to support the orphan population that had grown to 2 million.

Over the course of their consideration of the report, Committee Experts asked, among other things, how the State differentiated public law from customary law; why the mandatory period of education was short; about the measures taken to encourage marriage after 18 years of age; if the Ombudsman received complaints from children; about the body that monitored the implementation of child rights; if the Convention was widely disseminated; about the budgetary allocation for activities concerning child rights; if the results of the poverty alleviation programme were evaluated; about the impact of the structural adjustment programme; how the Government was implementing the 20-20 strategy in social affairs; and about the system of taxation.

The delegation of Malawi is also made up of Tresfore Kanciombe and Penston Kilembe, of the Ministry of Gender, Youth and Community Services.

As one of the 191 States parties to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Malawi is obligated to send periodic reports to the Committee on how it is implementing the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

When the Committee reconvenes at 10 a.m. on Friday, 26 January, it will meet in private; it will meet in public at 10 a.m. on Monday, 28 January to consider the initial report of Bahrain.


Summary of Report of Malawi

The initial report, which is contained document CRC/C/8/Add.43, gives a general view of the country's economic and social situation, saying that Malawi is classified as a least-developed country, and that the extent of poverty is wide and deep. Overall, 60 per cent of the population is classified as poor, consuming less that $ 40 per person annually. This poverty is manifested in the high incidence of malnutrition, morbidity and mortality. About 48.3 per cent of children under five years of age are stunted and about 50 per cent are malnourished. Infant and child mortality rates are estimated at 135 and 215 per thousand born, respectively; and life expectancy at birth was estimated at 39.3 years for 1997.

With regard to the definition of a child, the report says that the national laws do not have one definition of a child; the national laws and the Constitution do not uniformly comply with the Convention nor do they uniformly define a child; and there is no law prescribing the minimum age at which children can receive legal counselling in the absence of parents or guardians. Under section 14 of the penal code, children are regarded as having criminal capacity at the age of seven years, although there is a presumption that between the ages of 7 and 12 the child lacks criminal capacity. Although sexual intercourse with a girl below the age of 13 years with her consent was prohibited, due to cultural practices, girls of 13 years and sometimes even younger are encouraged by parents or guardians to marry in some parts of the country.

The report notes that the Constitution does not provide for the principle of the best interests of the child. However, the Constitutional Technical Review has recommended that this principle should be provided for. The Constitution provides for the right of a child to maintenance, but only after the dissolution of a marriage. In addition, there are no specific policies and programmes that are directly related to the principle of the best interests of the child.

The report also notes that the situation of orphans in Malawi is worsening due to the increasing deaths of adults, with AIDS being the main cause. It is projected that the number of children who will be orphaned by AIDS will have risen from 140,000 in 1995 to over 300,000 by the year 2000. Most orphans are being cared for by their extended families. However, with the increase in the number of orphans compounded by the acceleration of adult mortality and the deterioration of the economic situation, extended families are no longer able to take care of their orphans.

The report says that there is no policy yet on people with disabilities; and few children with disabilities enjoy the rights stipulated in the Convention; the majority of children with disabilities face problems of access to public services. The main stumbling block is attitudes of the society; culturally, a child with disabilities is considered a "curse"; and consequently, care for such a child is not optimal.


Introduction of Report

TRIFONIA DAFTER, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Social and Community Services of Malawi and Head of the delegation, said that following the transition of the Government from a one-party system to a democratic multi-party system in 1994, her country had instituted various reforms in governance with a view to addressing issues of human rights abuses. The reforms were aimed at ensuring that citizens enjoyed unrivalled freedoms in all their endeavours as provided for by the Constitution.

Mrs. Dafter said that of special attention in the Government's endeavour was section 23 of the Constitution under the Bill of Rights which stated that "All children, regardless of the circumstances of their birth are entitled to equal treatment before the law". The provision afforded children some rights and protection within the context of the Convention.

Malawi had made substantial advances on all grounds in addressing issues of child rights, Mrs. Dafter went on to say. On education, for instance, apart from providing free primary education, measures had been put in place to sort out recurrent problems that affected children in school directly. Current programmes placed access to general basic education at the centre of poverty reduction strategies. Funding for the 4,765 primary schools around the country was steadily being increased. The Government was now grappling with the problem of disparity in access to education between boys and girls.

Mrs. Dafter said that her Government had placed great emphasis on the provision of primary and preventive health care services which were intended to address issues of infant, child and maternal morbidity and mortality. Some of the programmes, which the Government continued to undertake under the 1999-2004 National Health Plan, included an extended programme of immunization, and prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV/AIDS, among others.

She noted that the health status of Malawians was highly affected by the prevalence of HIV/AIDS. The general prevalence of HIV/AIDS amongst the population was estimated at 8.8 per cent. In the age group of 15-49, HIV/AIDS affected 16.5 per cent. The health situation had had a very negative effects on several government programmes as Government had had to provide additional resources to support the orphan population that had grown to 2 million.

Mrs. Dafter further said that the Government was aware that child labour was rampant in the country, particularly in the agriculture sector where under-aged children were used for farm production. In order to protect children from such abuse, the Government had set up a "national task force" to examine all issues related to child labour. A law to regulate child labour had been endorsed by Parliament. In the same manner, various initiatives were being undertaken to address issues of commercial sexual exploitation of children, including child trafficking.

In conclusion, Mrs. Dafter said that it was the view of her Government that most of the initiatives that had been designed to address issues of child rights could not succeed if national laws were not synchronized to address such issues. To that effect, the Government had sought to bring legislation, policy and practice in conformity with the requirements of the Convention.


Discussion

The Committee Experts raised questions under the main subjects of general measures of implementation of the Convention; and definition of the child. They asked, among other things, how the State differentiated public law from customary law; why the mandatory period of education was short; about the measures taken to encourage marriage after 18 years of age; if the Ombudsman received complaints from children; about the body that monitored the implementation of child rights; if the Convention was widely disseminated; about the budgetary allocations for activities concerning child rights; if the results of the poverty alleviation programme were evaluated; about the impact of the structural adjustment programme; how the Government was implementing the "vision 20-20" strategy in social affairs; and about the system of taxation.

Responding to the questions posed by the Committee Experts, the members of the Malawian delegation said that Malawi was deeply entrenched in its traditions, particularly in the rural areas. The Beijing Conference had served as a platform to introduce changes in the country. In addition, a number of programmes had been implemented, including platforms on children and women. Some ministries had even changed their name to reflect the efforts undertaken to improve the situation of women and children in general. A number of task forces had been established; and a law review commission was also created to propose legislative amendments.

The role of the Human Rights Commission was to monitor the implementation of the rights of the child and to see that children enjoyed their rights, the delegation said.

The Malawian Ombudsman was competent to receive complaints about human rights abuses, including from children, while the Human Rights Commission monitored human rights violations in general. In addition, the implementation of the provisions of the Convention required the coordination and concerted efforts of non-governmental organizations and church leaders.

The delegation said the Convention had been translated into the two national languages, Tambuka and Chichewa.

The country's constraints to progress included limited government resources, poverty, the low status of women and the continued impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, the delegation said.

"No child is sentenced to death", the delegation said in response to a question on capital punishment and children. Child law offenders below the age of 18 years were presumed innocent and for that reason the law did not provide the death sentence or life imprisonment for them.

Under the decentralization scheme, the responsibility of birth registration was left to regional assemblies, the delegation said.

Because of the burden of external debt and poverty, less amounts of resources were diverted to social development, the delegation said, adding that the Government was not able to fulfil the 20-20 strategy which required allocation of 20 per cent of the national budget to the social sector.

Long term sustainable development required trained human resources, the delegation said. Unfortunately, the level of illiteracy had not decreased for many years. The Government had introduced early child development programmes to be integrated into the national educational system. Already, pilot programmes were being implemented in 13 districts.

Continuing their consideration of the report of Malawi, the Committee Experts raised a series of questions under the main subjects of general principles; civil and rights and freedoms; family environment and alternative care; basic health and social welfare; education, leisure and cultural activities; and special protection measures. The Experts asked about, among other things, the requirements to acquire Malawian nationality; the detention of children with adults; discrimination against females and disabled children; the inappropriate and humiliating names given to children; and violence against children in the family and in schools.




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