By James Mwale
Lilongwe, September 28, 2022, Mana: Minister of Labour, Vera Kamtukule, says without collaborative commitment from respective stakeholders in fighting child labour, forced labour, modern slavery, and human trafficking, attainment of SDG 8.7 will be unrealistic.
She was speaking in Lilongwe on Thursday during opening of a two day Malawi Alliance 8.7 Pathfinder Country Strategic Planning workshop.
Alliance 8.7 initiative is a global partnership of key stakeholders including countries, international and regional organizations, research centers and civil society organisations who have committed to take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, child labour, modern slavery, and human trafficking by 2025.
As a Pathfinder country, Malawi joins 25 other countries who have voluntarily agreed to speed up strategies and action plans towards attaining SDG target 8.7 through collaboration with other equally committed parties.
Kamtukule has since advised the participants against developing theoretical plans of action that only look good on paper but far from implementation on the ground.
She underscored the need for sensitization saying: “People out there don’t know, and it is the responsibility of us the stakeholders seated here to take the word out to them.
We need to take the message to the because if women in rural areas don’t understand issues of child labour and forced labour, then it will be us failing because it’s them and their children working on the ground.”
She added that even employers need sensitisation saying it was lack of understanding that led them to engage in forced labor, child labour and modern slavery where employers go months on a job without being payed.
The Minister said attaining the desired goals of the Alliance 8.7 depended on collaborative efforts to enhance this understanding arguing: “As an alliance, we need to enhance our collaboration and invest our respective strengths otherwise target 8.7 won’t be realistic.”
Speaking earlier, Director of International Labour Organisation for Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique, George Okutho said the current rates, especially in child labour cases were alarming.
He said there is need for urgent action adding that “time is not on our side.”
