Article 15-The Right to Work
139 Significant efforts have been made in furtherance of the right to work particularly to
eliminate child labour. Section 23 of the Constitution, section 21 of the Education Act,
and the Child Care, Protection and Justice Act all operate to prohibit child labour in
Malawi. The totality of the law in the provisions just referred to is that the welfare of
children must always be prioritized and children must never be exposed to conditions that
are hazardous to their wellbeing. The fight against child labour has been intensified. The
Government has engaged partners to implement the Child Labour Elimination Action
Plan (the year). Because of high poverty levels children are involved in economic
activities in an effort to provide food for their family. In addressing the economic issues
that perpetuate child labour, is very pertinent to the fight against child labour in Malawi.
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In an effort to effectively upscale the elimination of child labour interventions, there have
been a lot of developments. The Government enacted the Employment Act which
provides for the minimum age of entry into employment. This is in line with the ILO
Convention on minimum age of entry into employment No 138. The Government also
developed the List of Hazardous Work for children Order of 2012. The list contains
specifications of works that the children aged between 5-17 years are prohibited from
doing. The list is also in compliance with the ILO Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of
child labour which specifies that the state parties shall domesticate the Convention by
listing the types of work that children aged between 5-17 years are prohibited from
carrying them out.
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The development of the National Code of Conduct on child labour is also another
milestone that the Government has made in elimination of child labour. The National
Code of Conduct is a tool used to guide the institutions in the elimination of child labour.
The Government also developed the National Action Plan on child labour. This is an
overarching document in the elimination of child labour in Malawi. This Plan of Action
was implemented from 2010 to 2016 and it is currently undergoing a review alongside
the Malawi Decent Work Country Program, another important document in the
elimination of child labour. The MDWCP promotes decent work for adults so that they
are able to support their children attending school and avoid engaging on activities that
border on child labour.
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