Family planning can avert child rights violations—Ceyca

The Centre for Youth and Child Affairs (Ceyca), a non-governmental organisation that seeks to promote child rights, has asked families to consider practising modern family planning methods in a bid to contain population growth.

Speaking on Saturday in Kasungu during the district’s commemorations of the Day of the African Child held at Kantuwale Trading Centre, Ceyca executive director Rodgers Newa said there is need for sensitisation campaigns to ward off the malpractice.

“Our findings show that most parents and guardians are not aware when their treatment towards their children, especially the disabled, leads to violations of their rights; the root cause being poverty,” he said.

Plan Malawi representative in Kasungu, Grace Masanya, also bemoaned the increasing cases of stigma and discrimination her office gets regularly, especially on children with disabilities, which she said are at alarming rates.

The event was commemorated under the theme ‘The rights of children with disabilities; the duty to protect, respect and promote’ with financial and technical support from Plan Malawi.