Childern’s Rights

The current condition of children’s rights in Madagascar are horrible.They face issues such as poverty, sexual exploitation, and access to food and education. Eighty-two percent of children under the age of 18 were living below the poverty line, so they must work. Due to poverty, 1 in 4 malagasy children between 5 to 7 have to work to support families. It is pretty dangerous because they could be abducted for labor in mines and sexual exploitation. Twenty percent of children are assigned the dangerous jobs, like mining. Young girls are being used for their bodies and their parents don’t have any money or because they are getting income. Each year, over a thousand children are stolen in Antananarivo, Madagascar’s capital.

Women’s Rights

The current condition of children’s rights in Madagascar are horrible.They face issues such as poverty, sexual exploitation, and access to food and education. Eighty-two percent of children under the age of 18 were living below the poverty line, so they must work. Due to poverty, 1 in 4 malagasy children between 5 to 7 have to work to support families. It is pretty dangerous because they could be abducted for labor in mines and sexual exploitation. Twenty percent of children are assigned the dangerous jobs, like mining. Young girls are being used for their bodies and their parents don’t have any money or because they are getting income. Each year, over a thousand children are stolen in Antananarivo, Madagascar’s capital.

Civil Liberties

Madagascar is not an electoral democracy, it is a semi-presidential representative democratic multi-party republic, wherein the popularly elected president is the head of state and selects a prime minister, who then recommends candidates to the president to form his cabinet of ministers. Andry Rajoelina assumed the presidency in March 2009 in an unconstitutional manner, how it went against the constitution. The Madagascan constitution promises freedom of speech and freedom of the press. However the President, Andry Rajoelina, has mostly ignored these promises, and the independent outlets that have remained in operation are subject to government censorship, harassment, and intimidation, and practice varying levels of self-censorship. Two years ago, in May of 2012 editors of Free FM, Lalatiana Rakotondrazafy and Fidel Razara Pierre, were arrested in connection with a probe into libel charges brought by businessman and regime supporter, Mamy Ravatomanga.

The Malagasy people have traditionally enjoyed religious freedom, though religious organizations are required to register with the Ministry of the Interior. There are no limitations on academic freedom like children having access to school no matter their sex or race. Freedom of assembly has been severely curtailed since the unrest in early 2009, and officials of the transitional government and the security forces routinely deny permission for demonstrations or forcibly repress gatherings.