Eye of the Child is registered human rights, not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation, established in 1995 to assist the government address issues affecting children and implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. The aim of the organisation is to create the space and platform for advocacy and projects that respond to the development, protection, participation and survival of all children in Malawi and beyond.
YONECO is a nongovernmental organisation that is committed to empowering youth, women and children; combating the spread of HIV infection; mitigating the impact of AIDS; promoting human rights and democracy, and conducting research on youth, women and children development. YONECO is headquartered at the Youth Leadership Centre in Zomba, Malawi, and operates in more than 14 districts in Malawi. YONECO is a non-profit, non-political and non-governmental organisation funded by local, national and international donor partners and the private sector. It is the leading local organisation specializing in youth, women and children affairs.
People Serving Girls at Risk (PSGR) is a frontline organisation created in 2004 that works against the sexual exploitation of girls and women through prostitution, trafficking, and child, early and forced marriage. The aim is building a nation in which girls and women live a dignified life free from any kind of abuse. PSGR focuses its activities on 1) Raising awareness on sexual crimes against girls and women, 2) Rehabilitating and assisting sex workers and child victims of sexual exploitation, 3) Demystifying the linkage between sexual exploitation through prostitution and HIV/AIDS, and 4) Researching and documenting cases in Malawi. More specifically, PSGR has undertaken brothel raids, rescue operations, rehabilitation and reintegration of survivors of trafficking and exploitation through prostitution.
Contact: Mr. Maxwell Matewere
Phone: +265 1795720 / 1795721 / 212278215
Address: (Physical Address) Area 10, Plot 47, Near VSO Head of Office, Lilongwe; (Postal Address) Private Bag 345, Capital City, Lilongwe 3, Malawi.
Email: eyeofthechildheadofficemalawi@gmail.com
Website: https://eyeofthechild.org/
Contact: Mr. MacBain Mkandawire
Phone: +265 1 526 199 / 88 208 86 43/ 88 208 86 44
Address: C/o Youth Leadership Development Centre, Along Zomba – Lilongwe Road, Next the Calvary Church, Opposite Muslim High School, P.O. Box 471, Zomba, Malawi
Email: executive@yoneco.org.mw
Website: http://www.yoneco.org
Contact: Caleb Ng’ombo
Phone: +265 888 555 560
Address: People Serving Girls at Risk
P.O. Box 1841 Blantyre, Malawi
Email: peopleserve@africa-online.net
Website: https://peopleserving.webs.com/
Malawi is a source and transit country for children subjected to trafficking for sexual purposes. The victims originate from Zambia, Mozambique, the Great Lakes region and the Horn of Africa and they are often transported to South Africa.
Malawi used to have the 11th highest child marriage rate worldwide, with nearly 1 in 2 girls married before 18. In February 2015, Malawi adopted the Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations Act, which set the minimum age of marriage at 18. On 14 February 2017, Parliament voted to amend the Constitution and make marriage before the age of 18 illegal. Malawi President, Peter Mutharika, signed the constitutional amendment into law at the end of April 2017.
Nearly one and a half million children are exploited in child labour in Malawi, with sexual exploitation of children being one of the most common forms of child labour. However, the introduction of the International Labour Organization’s Support for the National Action Plan on Child Labour for Malawi 2010 – 2016 Malawi (SNAP) helped combating this crime: 5.511 children were withdrawn or prevented from entering child labour.
Year: 2022
Year: 2022
Year: 2016
Partial
Age of sexual consent is 16 years. The national legislation does not provide for a close-in-age exception.
Analysis of country legislation on age of sexual consent, 2024
Partial
Active (including residents) and passive extraterritoriality is provided for trafficking crimes. Active extraterritoriality is additionally provided for OCSE-related offenses but it is unclear if it applies to other SEC related offences. Double criminality principle is not applicable for extraterritoriality.
Extradition requires a minimum gravity of one year of imprisonment. SEC-related offenses are not included in the extraditable offenses list and therefore it is necessary to refer to each international treaty ratified by Malawi. It is unclear whether the double criminality principle is applicable in extradition cases.
SECTT Legal Checklist Malawi, 2020
Not Yet Assessed
No
There are no mandatory legal provisions for criminal background checks nor legislation prohibiting convicted sex offenders to hold positions involving or facilitating contact with children. However, persons convicted for the offence of trafficking of children are prohibited from working with children for seven years.
SECTT Legal Checklist Malawi, 2020
Partial
Malawi has ratified the CRC, the OPSC, the Trafficking Protocol and the ILO Convention No.182.
Malawi has also ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.
Malawi has not ratified the OPIC, the UNWTO Framework Convention on Tourism Ethics nor the AU Convention on Cyber Security and the Council of Europe’s Lanzarote and Budapest Conventions.
SECTT Legal Checklist Malawi, 2020
Not Yet Assessed
Not Yet Assessed
No
There are no child protection standards for the travel and tourism industry in place.
SECTT Legal Checklist Malawi, 2020
Not Yet Assessed
