The Centre for Human Rights, Children’s Rights Unit, in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare, and the Global Campus for Human Rights, successfully conducted a two-day workshop in Lilongwe, Malawi. The workshop focused on promoting child participation in development frameworks in Africa and strengthening the African base of the Global Child Leading Team.
The primary objective of the workshop was to raise awareness of the critical role of child participation in national, regional, and global development processes in Africa. It aimed to enhance the capacity of stakeholders and promote collaboration among state and non-state actors working on child participation initiatives.
The first panel focused on the role of civil society organisations in promoting child participation in Malawi. It comprised participants from frontline children’s rights organisations such as Plan International, World Vision, Save the Children and Gender Justice amongst others. The panel discussed child participation within their respective programming contexts and emphasised the importance of effective participation of children. They also stressed the need to strengthen children's capacity to advance inclusive and effective participation.
The second panel, consisting of Mr Kondwani Mhone from the Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare and Ms Blandina Zammimba from the Malawi Human Rights Commission, focused on enhancing Collaboration among stakeholders working on child participation. They discussed ways to tackle challenges and establish synergies with Civil Society Organisations to design a congruent strategy for child participation in Malawi.
The workshop closed with final remarks from Dr Elvis Fokala, who commended the participants for their valuable contributions and encouraged them to continue championing child participation initiatives in their respective fields.
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