MANAonline
Committee satisfied with progress of SCTP
By Mary Makhiringa
Balaka, May 16, Mana: Parliamentary Committee on Governance Assurance and Public Sector Reform, Chairperson, Noel Lipipa said the committee was satisfied with the way Social Cash Transfer Programme (SCTP) yielded its intended purposes after observing that the programme improved beneficiaries’ livelihood.
He made the observation Wednesday at Mchenga Village in the area of Traditional Authority (TA) Nsamala in Balaka where the committee visited selected SCTP beneficiaries to appreciate the programme’s results.
He said it was encouraging to note that “from the little the beneficiaries receive monthly, some have managed to build houses with iron sheets and others buying different livestock such as goats, for their growth,”
Lipipa noted that some beneficiaries invest the cash into irrigation farming and after selling crops they use the money to send their children to school.
“We wanted to see the impact if at all the programme is impacting the society and so far so good with the places we visited. We cannot have a conclusive idea as this is just one region with one sample area. The Ministry is taking us to northern and central regions and in July. We should have a conclusive report when Parliament meet.”
The Parliamentary Committee observed that delay in receiving cash was one of major setback in SCTP.
“Delay in receiving the money and devaluation of the Kwacha are setback that the beneficiaries have mentioned. These have negatively affected the beneficiaries and have since asked if there could be an increase to the money they receive,” he noted
A single mother of four children, a SCTP beneficiary, Robina Mdala, 65 hailed government’s gesture for introducing the programme in her area saying it greatly transformed her life such that she managed to build two bedroomed house, roofed with iron sheets.
“I did not have a decent house. Before this house, life was difficulty, in rainy season the house was leaking, I describe SCTP as my husband because apart from the house, I also bought goats and l am able to buy food for my family,” she added.
Social Welfare Officer responsible for SCTP, Mphatso Chisepa said 10,070 people are currently benefiting from the program with 68 percent of the total beneficiaries being from female headed households while 32 per cent is male headed.
Government introduced the SCTP in Balaka in 2013.
A call to improve performance in CSEPWP
By Vincent Khonje
Mchinji, May 16, Mana: Mchinji Director of Agriculture and Natural Resources, (DANRE) Hastings Yotamu has called for identification and addressing of challenges encountered during the previous cycle of implementation of Climate Smart Enhanced Public Works Programme (CSEPWP).
He made the call during a review meeting that brought together members of the Mchinji District Environment Sub Committee (DESC) and Designated Desk Officers (DDOs) from 20 catchments in the district.
Yotamu emphasized the importance of thorough scrutiny of the previous cycle to pave the way for a more successful implementation in the upcoming phase.
"Our team is capable of achieving great things for Mchinji, but it is imperative that we adhere to norms and standards under the programme," he said.
One of the key issues highlighted during the meeting was the failure of the district to meet the allocated targets for participant enrollment.
"We need to ensure that as many participants as possible are enrolled in the programme. Failure to do so may result in other districts being allocated the number that Mchinji has failed to absorb," Yotamu added.
He underscored the significance of maintaining high-quality assets within the programme.
Guillime Catchment DDO, Thandi Kamanga, described the meeting as an enlightening experience that would greatly contribute to the successful implementation of the next cycle.
"This gathering served as an eye-opener, as we are reviewing, we will point out all the shortfalls so that the implementation of the next cycle should go on smoothly," she said.
CSEPWP, is being implemented by government and funded by the World Bank and the Multi-Donor Trust Fund, is an important component of Social Support for Resilient Livelihood Programme (SSRLP- Tidzidalire).
MSCE mock examinations star performers awarded
By Maston Kaiya
Ntcheu, May 16, Mana: Ntcheu Secondary School Awards Initiative Committee has said students need to be encouraged to aim high when sitting for their final examinations.
Chairperson for the Committee Kingsley Gwaza said this Wednesday during the presentation of awards to 10 students who have done well in Malawi School Certificate Examinations (MSCE) mock examinations.
He said the committee decided to award the learners with K 10,000 each to motivate the students as they are preparing for their final examinations,
"The aim is to restore the lost glory that the school is known for," Gwaza said.
He said they had come to their secondary school to alert the school management that the committee has secured Master Degree scholarship slots that would be offered to two teachers at the institution who would produce higher distinctions in the 2024 MSCE examinations.
"We have partnered with two institutions of higher education in India and China for the master degree program to motivate the teachers to revive the school’s academic standards which have for years faced students’ indiscipline," the Chairperson said.
Ntcheu Secondary School Head Teacher, Jilles Puma said he was hopeful that the awards would motivate both the learners and teachers to work hard.
The best 10 outstanding form four students in the MSCE mock examinations saw nine boys and a girl each being awarded.
Fisheries management agreements signed
By Chisomo Kambandanga
Nkhotakota, May 16, Mana: Director of Fisheries in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change, Dr Hastings Zidana has said efforts to conserve fish species in Lake Malawi are expected to improve.
This follows signing of Fisheries Management Agreements between the directorate and communities in Nkhata Bay and Nkhotakota.
Zidana said this Wednesday in Nkhotakota during an event where chiefs, sub-fisheries, associations, council officials and other stakeholders in fishing industry converged for the official signing ceremony of the agreements organized by Ripple Africa.
"By signing to this Management Agreements Plan, it means we are transferring most of the functions that were carried at central level to district councils.
“This is part of decentralization process and we expect the sub-fisheries associations to carry out their work with integrity. At the same time, we are increasing the workforce in conserving the fish resources for future generations.
"Currently, we have managed to produce 180,000 tonnes according to the 2023 survey we conducted. With this, we are expecting an increase of up to 350,000 tonnes by 2030,” Zidana said.
Country Director for Ripple Africa, Force Ngwira said the organization’s expectation was to see communities leading in managing fish resources.
"What Fisheries Department has done is to empower the community structures to play a vital role in managing fish resources in these two districts.
"Once the fishing resources, we have as a country are properly managed and utilized we are expecting better catches which will mean more money and food,” he said.
District Council Chairperson for Nkhata Bay, Osman Charge Phiri commended Ripple Africa for their continued support in the fishing industry and urged sub-fisheries associations in both districts to work hand in hand with chiefs and all stakeholders at local level.
Youth involvement in agriculture critical
By Moses Nyirenda
Lilongwe, May 15, Mana: Minister of Agriculture, Sam Kawale has expressed the need for more youth to be involved in agriculture if the country’s agriculture sector was to develop.
He made the remarks on Wednesday in Lilongwe during the launch of five-year project dubbed ‘Youth Entrepreneurship for the Future of Agriculture (YEFFA)’ which will be implemented in the country by Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) with support from MasterCard.
Kawale said that youth in the country are in large population and have various capabilities that would help to develop the agriculture sector.
“Over 50 percent of population in the country are young people if we leave them behind the country will never develop that is why right now as you can see more programmes are now geared towards young people because they have the energy, creative and they are passionate?
“We need to harness all those asserts of the youth and put them in the agriculture sector so that they can contribute meaningfully to the future of the sector,” the Minister observed.
He added that his Ministry was committed to supporting the youth in different ways which include providing them with loans so that they should venture in commercial agriculture and help in achieving some of the pillars stipulated in Malawi 2063.
Kawale applauded AGRA for coming up with YEFFA project saying that the project would empower more young people to venture into agriculture.
“Over 251, 000 young people are going to have access to financing form MasterCard through AGRA’s new project this is not small amount of people it is significant number of young people who will directly benefit.
“At the end of the five year programme, we are expecting to see young people who are now economically empowered to go into agricultural production as well as value addition and the families are going to develop and the country will also develop,” he said.
AGRA Country Director, Eluphy Nyirenda said that as AGRA they decided to come up with their new project to support the youth with resources in order for them to help in boosting the country’s agri-food system.
“About 50 percent of Malawians are below the age of 35 and these are the ones that are loitering around looking for jobs or financing to start up their businesses.
“It was based on this background to come up with the project so that we can contribute to agri- food system by bringing on board the youth who are passionate about agriculture,” he said.
The launch of YEFFA project was patronized by youth, officials from Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Youth and Sports and AGRA among other government and private sector dignitaries.
70 percent of children faced with poverty
By Leonard Masauli
Lilongwe, May 15 (Mana): Latest Report on Child Multidimensional Poverty, compiled by United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), National Statistical Office (NSO) and National Planning Commission (NPC) has revealed that that 70 percent of children in the country face various forms of poverty.
The Report was presented at Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe on Wednesday during a presentation of the Report on Child Multidimensional Poverty in the country.
The Report has highlighted that children in the country are deprived of good sanitation, housing, education, nutrition, health, and protection, all of which threaten their chances of becoming productive citizens in the future.
Commissioner of Statistics, Shelton Kanyanda stated that the report focused on the deprivation of children, indicating that over 70 percent of children in country are multidimensionally poor.
“The main driver of the poverty rate we are seeing today is the issue of sanitation. It seems sanitation is a challenge in most households, followed by education and housing. These factors are pushing more children into poverty.
“The Report calls for more intervention from stakeholders. The multidimensional approach is beneficial as it highlights specific areas needing attention. If sanitation is a challenge, we can quickly call on policymakers to address these issues,” he pointed out.
Kanyanda emphasized that it was time for the country to shift its focus from poverty reduction to wealth creation.
Principal Secretary for Economic Planning and Development, Patrick Zimpita mentioned that the government has outlined several focus areas, such as those in the National Youth Policy 2023.
This policy includes interventions like retaining girls in school and implementing child feeding programmes.
“This report is extremely important because, in the past, we focused on Growth Domestic Product (GDP) growth. However, if you say the economy has grown by three percent, does that reflect an improvement in people’s lives?
“We should not rely solely on monetary indicators like GDP numbers. We must understand the dynamics of the country's growth to ensure that no one, especially children, is left behind. The government will introduce necessary interventions,” Zimpita said.
UNICEF Representative in Malawi, Shadrick Omol commended government for the Report, noting that it would help stimulate interventions and policy decisions.
The Report indicates that central region has the highest number of multidimensionally poor children, followed by southern region, and then northern region.
Communities to access tapped water
By Vincent Khonje
Mchinji, May 15, Mana: Communities of Group Village Head, Wirima in the area of Traditional Authority (TA) Gumba in Mchinji District have for the first time in their lives gained access to tapped water.
Previously, the lack of potable water forced the communities to rely on unsafe boreholes and shallow wells, leading to frequent waterborne diseases.
Speaking on Tuesday when Source of Life Children Foundation handed over a solar-powered water system to the village, the Organization’s Country Representative, Innocent Semu said they thought of going to the area because people have never enjoyed potable water for a long time.
“Finding safe water has been a challenge for the people over the past 50 years and they were forced to get water from wells where they shared the water with animals,
“We have brought in safe water to the community where they will be getting the water from the taps which is convenient to them,” he pointed out.
A community member, Stella Grey said she used to wake up at 4 am to be first to get to a well, but the wells usually dried up.
“The shallow wells in the Village are a source of diseases because they are not well protected and our children used to often get sick. I am happy to see tapped water in our village for the first time,” she explained.
Commenting on waterborne diseases and unavailability of safe water, Senior Disease Control and Surveillance Officer under Gumba Health Centre, Allan Banda said there was only one borehole in the area which makes waterborne diseases to rise.
“As a result of poor water sources, 10 Dysentery cases are registered in children under the age of five. We are hopeful the situation will change now,” he hoped.
TA Gumba was all praises of the development in her area.
“I am very happy with the water system in this area and will make sure the community take care of it,” she said.
Source of Life Children Foundation is a child-focused Christian Not-for-profit organization and apart from water and sanitation, it works in the area of climate change, education, women empowerment and permaculture among others.
Temporary closer of registration exercise
By Patience Longwe
Lilongwe, May 15, Mana: National Registration Bureau (NRB) has said the implementation of phase 8 of the Identity Cards (ID) Outreach and Community Death Registration exercise would be temporarily closed for three days to pave way for the administration of Primary School Leaving Certificate of Education (PSLCE) examinations.
Principal Secretary for NRB, Mark Sambo confirmed the development to Malawi News Agency (mana) in Lilongwe on Wednesday saying the decision has been made to give chance to the standard eight pupils to sit for their examinations in peaceful and suitable environment.
"The three-day break aims at providing an opportunity standard eight pupils to sit for their examinations without any disturbances," he viewed.
Sambo said the examinations are expected to start on May 22, 2024.
A Primary school teacher at Kawale LEA, Martha Msusa has said the decision to go for break would help the learners to write their exams without disturbances.
"This will help the Malawi National Examination Board (MANEB) not to have any doubts because of the peaceful environment.
NRB will restart the registration exercise on May 25, 2024 after the examination.
Girls education support under threat
By Rose Cross
Mzuzu, May 15, Mana: Despite efforts to promote girls’ education and empowerment in the country, child marriages and early pregnancies continue slowing down and counteracting efforts in promoting girls’ education.
Random interviews with different institutions, including some youth in Mzimba North and Mzuzu City have revealed that some of the factors fueling early marriages and teen pregnancies include high poverty levels, limited access to Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRH) Services and poor parental support.
A young bride, Salomy Jere who got pregnant soon after enrolling for her first year in college at the age of 17, argued that there was need for increased access to SRHR education and services to enable young people, including girls to have an option to protect themselves from such sexual mishaps.
“When I got pregnant, I lived in regret and couldn’t go back home to my mother who is a single parent; as such I had to get married. I didn’t plan on getting pregnant but doing sex for fun made it happen.
“I believe if there can be intensive education on SRHR, situations like what I went through can be limited,” Jere said, holder of Diploma in Business Management.
Executive Director for Citizen Impact Organisation (CIO), Chimwemwe Banda concurred with Jere, saying most parents and guardians do not open up to their girl children on sexual relationship issues such that girls get either incomplete or wrong information from peers and some people who advance for them.
“Aside creating more spaces for girls to access sexual reproductive health services, girls need information for them to be empowered to them to have self- esteem so that they request or access the services as their right.
“The issue of child marriages is directly connected to early pregnancies because most girls who enter into early marriage are forced into it after falling pregnant,” she said, whose organization was establishing community hubs where girls who are withdrawn from marriages meet and send back to school.
Founder and Director for Uchembere Wabwino, a Reproductive Health Facility in the heart of Mzuzu City, Lucy Msukwa acknowledged that teen pregnancy was a challenge which shouldn’t be ignored by government and stakeholders if girl education and empowerment was to be achieved.
She disclosed that the facility treats a minimum of three cases related to teen pregnancies each week, a development that forced the organisation to introduce “Uchembere Youth for Change”, a youth outreach programme which engages secondary school going youth on SRH services.
“Through the initiative, we go to secondary schools and interface students on the importance of abstinence and dangers of teen pregnancies among others. We also discuss with them various entrepreneurial skills such as making floor polish from recycled plastics and fire briquettes.
“Aside intensifying health education provision to the youths, there is also need to create more flexible health care tools and procedures so that health facilities and workers are accommodative to youths,” Msukwa added.
She observed that a lot still needs to be done by both government and non-state actors in censoring SRH information which was meant for the youth consumption.
“I feel information should center more on the preventive side other than concentrating on contraceptives which brings more complications when not properly used,” the Director said.
Amidst challenges of limited information and access to SRH services, Executive Director for Judith Foundation, an institution which offers education bursary schemes to secondary school girls in Mzimba North District, Judith Chbambo discovered that girls need formal education to beat financial woes affecting their respective homes.
“A girl who does not know her rights will continuously be a victim of abuse including being sent into early marriage.
“There is need for the girls to be provided with formal education so that they can voice out their concerns and beat poverty,” she noted.
Chibambo acknowledged that the fight is not only to prevent teen pregnancies, but to restore the honor of those who were already been defiled.
“While preventing teen girls from getting pregnant is the main goal, we should not leave behind those who fell pregnant and this is why as an organization, we are supporting those who were once pregnant to go back to school.
“We need to be there to tell them that all is not lost,” she said.
Chibambo was optimistic that consolidated efforts in implementing initiatives that encourage girl education are the way to go.
“It is true that teen pregnancies and early marriages are affecting the outcome of our efforts in fostering girl education since when a beneficiary drops out, we need to find a replacement and such expenses are difficult to justify to donors.
“We always look at the brighter side of this all. If we work together and intensify efforts to reduce and indeed curb such pregnancies, there will be no school dropout; at the same time, we feel the gaps created by drop outs can be filled by those that are re-admitted after delivering their child,” she added.
District Youth Officer (DYO) for Mzimba North and responsible for Mzuzu City, Misheck Msokwa said his office was scaling up civic education activities as a way of ensuring that young girls are get necessary information for them to develop into their full potential.
“We are aware that some of these challenges are escalated by harmful cultural practices which are exposse young girls to early sexual activities. We are working with community youth hubs so that we reaching out too, to many youths with information on the dangers of indulging in early sexual activities.
“We are working with stakeholders to provide various skills to youths as a means of reducing their financial challenges which are some of the drivers of such practices,” he said.
Recently, Deputy Minister of Health, Halima Daudi disclosed that cases of teenage pregnancies are at 29 percent.
She urged stakeholders to reflect on potential factors influencing such incidents in different parts of the country.
Daudi was speaking during the launching ceremony of a Faith Based Approach to SRHR sexual at Ntaja in Machinga District.
Council ready to roll-out UBR second phase
By Andrew Mkonda
Lilongwe, May 15, Mana: Lilongwe District Council Principal Social Welfare Officer, Sarah Chimodzi has said the district was ready to roll-out the second phase of Unified Beneficiary Registry (UBR) exercise.
In an interview on Monday in Lilongwe, she said the exercise that was expected to start on May 20, 2024 and run for 25 days, would cover the five remaining Traditional Authorities (TAs) that were not covered in the first phase that took place in February, 2024.
“We are supposed to reach out to 439,249 households as our target, but we only managed to reach out to 358, 794 due to the vastness of the district, but this time around, we are optimistic that we will cover the remaining 80, 455 households,” Chimodzi she said.
She disclosed that 160 enumerators from 460 enumerators that were recruited in the first phase are expected to be engaged in the exercise and would be covering 25 households per day.
“I am happy that these enumerators gave us the correct data in the first phase that really represented the real status of households on the ground, and we are optimistic that they will continue giving us accurate data in this phase,” she said.
Lilongwe District Council Chairperson, Dan Mtayamanja thanked government for continuing with the exercise in the district for the remaining TAs, saying it would assist in knowing the social economic status of the people in the district.
He said UBR information was very important because it provides the district with consolidated information on the social-economic status of households which would assist in determining people’s opportunity of being in different programmes such as Social Cash Transfer and Climate Smart Public Works Programme.
The remaining TAs in Lilongwe includes Kalolo, Tsabango, Msinde, Kachule, and Kalumba.
A Similar exercise was conducted in Blantyre, Kasungu and Rumphi.
