Malawi

Government Policies and Programs to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor

The Government of Malawi is in the process of becoming a member of ILO-IPEC.  Malawi is part of an ILO-IPEC regional program funded by USDOL to prevent, withdraw, and rehabilitate children engaged in hazardous work in the commercial agriculture sector in East Africa.[1569]  In April 2001, the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training (MOLVT) signed an agreement with ILO-IPEC’s SIMPOC to conduct a USDOL-funded national household survey on child labor.[1570]  As of October 2001, the survey questionnaires had been completed, and 12 employees from the MOLVT had been trained in the study methodology; the study is expected to begin in spring 2002.[1571]  Survey results will be used as the basis of drafting an action plan to implement ILO Convention 182.[1572]  In November 2000, a public-private child labor task force made up of representatives from government, business, and labor was established to promote awareness of child labor and formulate strategies to eliminate it.[1573] 

Incidence and Nature of Child Labor

In 1999, the ILO estimated that 32.2 percent of children between the ages of 10 and 14 in Malawi were working.[1574] Children are rarely employed in the formal manufacturing sector, but work in the informal sector, in micro industries that include street-side welding, bicycle repair, and furniture making, and as domestic servants.[1575]  Children also work in the agricultural sector, often alongside their parents on commercial farms.[1576] Child labor is used in crop production, including tea and maize,[1577] and on commercial tobacco farms, where the incidence of child labor is particularly high.[1578]  Children frequently perform domestic work to allow adults to work longer hours in the fields.[1579]  Young girls in urban areas reportedly work as domestic servants for little or no wages and in a state of indentured servitude.[1580]  Children are reportedly trafficked to Western Europe and South Africa for the purposes of sexual exploitation.[1581]

Primary education is not compulsory.[1582]  The government established free primary education for all children in 1994, which increased attendance rates, according to UNICEF.[1583]  In 1994, the gross primary enrollment rate was 133.9 percent, and the net primary enrollment rate was 102.6 percent.[1584]  In 1995, 62 percent of students entering primary school reached grade two, and 34 percent reached grade five.[1585]   The dropout rate is higher among girls than boys.[1586]

Child Labor Laws and Enforcement

The Employment Act No. 6 of 2000 sets the minimum age for employment at 14 years, but does not apply to work done in vocational technical schools, other training institutions, or unpaid work in homes.<a id=