By Chisomo Phiri
Concerned Youth Organization (CYO) with financial support from Save the Children on Tuesday held a stakeholder consultation workshop on street-connected children at Amaryllis Hotel in Blantyre.
The workshop which is part of the Strengthening the Organizational Capacity for Sustainable Growth Impact project, implemented by CYO, focused on developing a strategic plan to guide work on street-connected children in the city of Blantyre and beyond, a crucial step towards addressing the challenges faced by these vulnerable individuals.
In their presentations,Mayor and Deputy Mayor for Blantyre City Council(BCC), His Worship Councilor Joseph Makwinja and Councilor Jomo Osman implored the stakeholders to take the efforts beyond the workshop to make the efforts meaningful in addressing issues concerning street-connected children arguing that in most cases, such efforts simply end in conference centres.
As part of taking affirmative actions, one of the stakeholders, good Samaritan, committed to provide home to the representatives of the street-connected children that were in attendance during the workshop.
One of the street-connected child who was among those in attendance was taken to Good Samaritan where she has been given a new home as an immediate remedy following a testimony that she shared during the workshop.
The workshop brought together diverse stakeholders from BCC,CYO, Malawi Police Service(MPS), Judiciary, Blantyre Social Welfare ,Mpemba Reformatory Centre and the media.
