Malawian Girls Trafficked to Tanzania
By Abdul Rahman Suagibu –
NEW AFRICA DAILY NEWS, Freetown, Sierra Leone- Atupere Mwalweni- Koranga’s District Social Welfare Officer announced that fifteen girls from Traditional Authority Kilupula are feared to have been feared to have been trafficked to Tanzanian between January and June this year.
This came to the limelight, during the commemoration in June 16 on the day of the African Child conducted at Kaundi Primary School in the area with funding from Evangelical Association of Malawi.
Mwalweni said in recent time, reports from police indicate that about fifteen girls were taken to Tanzania by unknown people, where they are reported to be working as housekeepers.
“We have so far received about 15 cases of trafficking of girls to Tanzanian. The locals in T.A Kilupula call this malpractice ‘Mapogolo’. The girls are sent to work in people’s houses among other jobs which we are not sure of.
Alongside the theme of this year which is emphasizing in children’s right, as social welfare office we are working hard to ensure that children are protected even at community level through Village Child Protection Committees”. Mwalweni said.
She said children face many challenges during disasters when the focus is more on food and shelter. On child marriages, the social welfare officer said, her office recently repatriated about forty-two children from marriages out of which twenty were sent back to school.
Programme Officer for Evangelical Association of Malawi – Matchona Phiri said, through Community Action for the Transformation of Children’s Health Project, EAM ensures protection of children, including those with disabilities. He said the project further promotes access to primary education for such children. He continued that, through the project EAM has constructed CBCCs and trained over 120 caregivers and provided bursary scheme for about eighty – five girls in various secondary schools.
Guest of honor to the function Traditional Authority Kiluplula.
For New Africa Daily News Abdul Rahman Suagibu Reports, Africa Correspondent
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