Network engages politicians on youths’, children’s needs

The Malawi Human Rights Youth Network (MHRYN) on Friday brought together 12 political parties that are contesting in the May 20Tripartite Elections and presented to them the needs of children and youths in the country.
Each political party was represented by its secretary general, publicity secretary, youth director and director of women.
MHRYN president Kingdom Kwapata said the meeting was organised to enlighten  politicians on the needs of children and youths in the country.
Said Kwapata: “As we are coming closer to the 20 May elections, we want all 12 political parties that are taking part in the elections to be aware of what children and youths want at the grass roots level.
“We are calling on any government that comes after May elections to take the welfare of a child as a priority because the future of Malawi lies in their hands.”
He said there is need for the next government to create jobs for the youth, reduce infant mortality and stunting as well as construct more classrooms.
“The availability of well-constructed classrooms is key to increasing access and to improving educational quality, given that overcrowded classrooms present a real challenge for teaching and learning.
“It is our appeal to these political parties that if they form next government, they should take these as a priority for our children’s education to improve,” said Kwapata.
One of the participants, Sam Mpasu, who is New Labour Party (NLP) vice-president and acting secretary general, said the meeting helped political parties understand real needs of youths.
“We [politicians] think we know the needs of children, but through this meeting, I have realised that many politicians do not know,” said Mpasu.
The meeting was sponsored by Unicef.