By Abubakar Kanjoka

Kasungu, February 22, Mana: As the fight against child labour continues in Kasungu District, at least 272 children have been rescued from tobacco farms and enrolled back in school, courtesy of Good Health Organization.

The Kasungu based non-governmental organization is implementing a 10-month project called ‘Addressing Decent Work Deficits and Improving Access to Rights in Malawi’s Tobacco Sector’ (Address) aimed at promoting decent work practices in tobacco farms.

Coordinator for the project, Judith Ngwala, said on Wednesday during a monitoring visit in Traditional Authority Wimbe in the district that some estate owners have been employing children in their tobacco farms, hence the organization’s intervention.

She said: “Some estate owners employed children, taking advantage of their poverty, orphan hood and vulnerability. This tendency is contributing highly to school dropout rate amongst children.

“It is sad to note that many children whose parents work in estates end up as child labourers in the course of assisting their parents. This is against the law and we will work tirelessly with the labour office to ensure that such children are withdrawn from those estates and sent back to school.”

Ngwala also said the organization is working with child labour committees present in villages to track all the children working in the tobacco estates.

Assistant Labour Officer for Kasungu, Joylet Kuchipala Yona, commended Good Health Organization for its commitment in the fight against child labour and popularizing new labour laws in the district.

“Apart from fighting child labour, we also commend their effort to help address the labour deficits in the tobacco estates largely through raising awareness about new labour laws, ensuring that no person is put under the outlawed tenancy system.

“We would like to see more organizations coming in and support the work of ensuring that all the estates are operating in accordance with the laws, and without them being the perpetuators of child labour,” she said.

With Funding from Norwegian Government through International Labour Organization, Good Health Organization is implementing the Address Project in Traditional Authority Kawamba and Wimbe.

The project aims at addressing child labour and abuse in tobacco estates and farms, ensuring occupational health and safety of workers, abolishment of tenancy system, and improving social welfare of the workers.