Bishop Mwakhwawa warns child marriage and school dropouts are trapping Malawi in poverty

The Catholic Archdiocese of Lilongwe has warned that Malawi will remain trapped in a cycle of poverty unless the country confronts the rising incidence of child marriage and the growing number of children leaving school before completing their education.

Auxiliary Bishop Vincent Mwakhwawa made the remarks on Sunday at St Anne’s Guilleme Parish in Mchinji, during the closing ceremony of a three-day archdiocesan children’s congress. He told those gathered that parents must now take responsibility for denouncing a practice he said was, in many cases, perpetrated by parents themselves – a striking admission that placed the burden of change squarely within the family rather than treating the problem as one imposed solely from outside.

The congress brought together more than 900 Holy Childhood children from 52 parishes across the Archdiocese, in a gathering focused on nurturing the spiritual and social lives of the Church’s youngest members. Over the three days, participants took part in activities and reflections intended to strengthen their formation in the faith while also addressing the practical realities many of them face in their daily lives – realities that, for a significant number of Malawian children, include the pressure to marry young or to abandon their education altogether.

Bishop Mwakhwawa’s remarks reflect a wider concern among Church leaders in Malawi, where child marriage remains a persistent challenge despite legal reforms raising the minimum marriage age to 18. Campaigners have long argued that poverty and early marriage feed one another in a self-perpetuating cycle: families under economic strain may see marriage as a means of easing financial pressure, while the resulting loss of education for the child – overwhelmingly girls – diminishes their future prospects and entrenches the very poverty the marriage was meant to relieve.

By placing responsibility on parents themselves, the Bishop’s message went further than a simple call for awareness, urging the Catholic community to see the protection of children as beginning at home, within the family, rather than resting solely with the Church, the state or wider society.