By Lyte Ali            

Mangochi, February 11, Mana. In response to inadequate of rescue teams during natural disasters that has previously hit the country, the World Food Program (WFP) in collaboration with the United Kingdom (UK) have conducted training of trainers to 38 participants from various security agencies in the country in search and rescue program.

Speaking on Monday during the end of the week-long training program facilitated by experts from the UK International Search and Rescue team, held at Police Cottage in Mangochi, Acting Country Representative for WFP, Simon Denhre, said they organized the training following a request by government over inadequate response to previous natural disasters, particularly on search and rescue operations.

"We work closely with Department of Disaster Management Affairs in disaster management, and from previous disasters we learnt that we could do better on research and rescue, and we hope that the training will help Malawi to improve in disaster response," said Denhre.

Team Leader at the British High Commission Giles Henley, expressed satisfaction with the training's outcome, saying the UK team has been working closely with the Malawi government to train trainers.

"We are happy that we have trained people in the country, and we believe that this will help Malawi to have a vibrant national search and rescue team.

‘‘This partnership between the UK and Government of Malawi embodies a modern partnership, to address issues central to our shared priorities," said Henley.

Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Homeland and Security, Erica Maganga, said the training was very important as many areas in the country are prone to natural disasters hence the need to have experts in disaster response.

"We are thankful to the UK government for the successful training, and we believe that this will help us to improve our disaster response capabilities," said Maganga,

The program aimed to equip planners and responders with necessary skills on coordination and command aspects, as well as tactical-level preparedness to enhance the county’s disaster response capabilities was attended by delegates from the Police, Marine department, Malawi Defence Force, and Fisheries department.