Malawi scores poorly on End of Childhood index

A new global Childhood index and report has ranked Malawi as one the worst countries for one to have a safe, secure and health childhood.

The End of Childhood report 2017, released by Save the Children (Malawi) in Lilongwe on Thursday, ranks Malawi at position 149 out of 172 countries.

But Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare Jean Kalirani said much as the report was damning in many ways, it was important to build on the little positives highlighted.

She said Malawi managed to attain the Millennium Development Goal number four by significantly reducing the child mortality rate from 245 to 68 deaths per live births between 1990 and 2013.

 “The report will act as a tool to government and its development partners to beef up efforts in trying to reach out to the very last child.

“Actually, the ranking should give us all the courage to make a difference in the lives of many children that are missing out on their childhood because of decisions society makes for them,” she said.

The report focuses on eight of life changing events that signal the end of a full and complete childhood. The report is also part of Save the Children’s global efforts through the Every Last Child Campaign which is aimed at reaching children left behind.

Norway leads the pack of the best ten countries, which is dominated by European countries.

Save the Children Country Director Tina Yu said it was high time the country begun to be accountable to its children.

“We should, as a country, make sure that we are accountable to them. For a start, we should be treating all children equally and we should emphasize on financing services that target children equally and fairly. In this way, we should be able to reach out to those children that are always left behind,” she said.