Employers Consultative Association of Malawi (Ecam) has signed an agreement with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), aimed at mobilising the country’s private sector in the fight against child labour, as a taskforce will be established for the cause.

ILO confirmed the above in a statement, adding that besides establishing a National Employer Taskforce Against Child Labour, there will be a promotion of child labour elimination policies and practices across the private sector. Part of the statement reads, “Through this action program, we are pleased to be supporting Ecam to strengthen the capacity of Malawi’s private sector to improve compliance regarding child labour, especially in the country’s tea and coffee supply chains,”.

The action program, valued at more than K73 million (almost $100,000), was agreed under the ILO’s Accelerating Action for the Elimination of Child Labour in Supply Chains in Africa (Accel-Africa) Project, funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.