Malawi News Agency, Lilongwe — The Malawi Assemblies of God) Church has been commended for taking a step ahead in child protection issues and also in promoting both the spiritual and physical welfare of children in the country.
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Child Protection Specialist, Doris Roos, made the commendation recently during training of children pastors and teachers that was held at Sheaffer Assemblies of God Headquarters in Lilongwe.
She said since children are abused and mistreated in several different ways, all of which are abhorrent to God, there was need for Churches in the country to take a leading role in protecting the Malawian child from all sorts of abuses.
She, therefore, called on the participants to listen more closely to the voices of children on violence and to act faster towards nurturing a caring society.
“Since the abuse of children is an ongoing and wide-spread problem in Malawi, you can help eradicate it. Whether you are a pastor, elder, deacon, educator, neighbour or parent, you can help stop the abuse by being observant and report the cases to appropriate authorities such as Police, Social Welfare or calling the National Child Helplines on 80001234( TNM), among others,” Roos added.
Roos, however, added that regular and continuous violence in houses as well as schools has a lasting negative effect on the child since the child has no self-confidence and also the child grows up believing all human differences can be solved by violence.
According to Roos, 1 in 2 children in the country grow up in violent homes a situation which is not healthy for child protection.
On this note, the Child Protection Specialist commended the Government of Malawi for its efforts in protecting the rights of children evidenced through the relevant policies and legislation in place to protect children such as the Child Care, Protection and Justice Act (2010). Deputy president for Malawi Assemblies of God, Nelson Banda, asked churches in the country to invest in children as they are the foundation of a strong leadership.
“It is always sad to note that churches and even the whole society sideline these children. When we do this, we allow them to be exposed to all sorts of abuses as we are not there to give them a listening ear,” Banda noted.
The deputy president, therefore, asked the participants to be humble and persevere in serving children as people will not praise or pat them at the back when dealing with children. The training that was organized by the Malawi Assemblies of God Children’s Ministry attracted over 100 participants from all the districts in the country.
