The Minister of Labour, Skills and Innovation Martha Chanjo ratified the 2014 International Labour Organisation (ILO) protocol on forced labour, a development that will see the country acting on preventing to prevent forced labour, protect victims and ensure access to justice by the victims.

Chanjo ratified the protocol last week in Geneva, Switzerland during an event presided over by ILO Director General Guy Ryder. According to a statement by ILO country office for Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique, ILO has acknowledged that Malawi has made significant efforts in recent years to combat trafficking in persons, including passage of the Trafficking in Persons Act in 2015 and the establishment of the National Coordination Committee against Trafficking in Persons.

The ratification follows a suspension on all imports of tobacco from Malawi over child labour allegations, by the United States of Malawi. However the Minister of Agriculture argued that there was no ban, despite a statement by the tobacco stakeholders in USA.