Mutharika says every child must be given empowerment and wings of hope to fly very high

Malawi’s President Prof. Arthur Peter Mutharika has  called on fellow leaders to invest in the education of young people in ending the circle of poverty in Africa.

Malawi President Mutharika: Invest in young ones
Malawi leader Mutharika seating next to Zambian President Edgar Lungu at the event

President Mutharika made the call on Monday at Labouisse Hall, Unicef House in New York, USA during a side event on accelerating efforts to eliminate child marriages in Africa by 2030.

“Investing in the human capital is one of the surest means of breaking the poverty cycle. In short, we are talking about investing in the education of young people,” Mutharika said.

However, Mutharika reminded the leadership in Africa that investing in education is not enough if young people are not protected from other forces that threaten their education.

President Mutharika cited early and child marriages as some of the major challenges threatening the future of young people.

“Early marriage is a barrier to girls’ education in Africa. All over the continent, early marriages shatter dreams of mothers and fathers in every community.

“Unless we protect and prepare our young people against child early marriage, the resources we invest in education will always be like rain that falls on fields that cannot bear fruits,” he said.

President Mutharika said Malawi is implementing a number of legal frameworks in arresting the problem of early marriages.

The Gender Equality Act (2013); Child Care, Protection and Justice Act (2010) Trafficking in Persons Act (2015) and the Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations Act (2015) are some of the blueprints the Malawi is using to eradicate child marriages.

But the amendment and harmonization of provisions in the Constitution on Child Age and Marriage Age to 18 years has been billed as a game changer.

Since 2015, the prevalence of child marriages has declined from 52 percent to 46 percent in 2016, according to the Malawi leader.

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Phaghlani Vwavwa
Phaghlani Vwavwa
6 years ago

Mr President, please love and educate all Malawian children, not just those that come from your region. You are the President of all Malawians .

Ejukweshoni Muluzi
Ejukweshoni Muluzi
6 years ago

I have time and again called on Malawi government in my comments on this issue to get ambitious with education. Not just girl education but all education. Infrastructure like national sports stadiums and other stupid things like Bingu conference centres need to be put on hold. In place we need modern school blocks. In hot areas: Lower Shire, Mangochi, Salima, Nkk, Chinteche and Karonga, Phalombe and Mwanza Neno, all secondary schools need to be installed with air-conditioning systems in order to have a competitive learning environment. Quota system must be abolished, universities intake must aim to quadruple current numbers in… Read more »

Malawi
Malawi
6 years ago

Mr President, may I ask you His excellency to have a country wide tour of state schools In Malawi and see it for yourself. How can poor bright children achieve this? The teachers too are not motivated due to non payment of salaries. Please talk to real people not people with children at St Andrews or Kamuzu Academy. As the Rwandan President how he is achieving this. Kids in remote areas having access to Internet . It’s happening in Rwanda. The Country that was torn apart with war.While Malawi a peaceful country 52 years on kids still learning under the… Read more »

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