Mangochi, May 29, Mana:  Islamic Relief Malawi, a faith-humanitarian and development agency, has embarked on a K2 billion worth project in Mangochi to alleviate sexual abuse, poverty, and food insecurity in the district.

Speaking during presentation of the project to stakeholders in Mangochi on Friday, Food Security and Livelihood Coordinator for Islamic Relief Malawi, Christopher Malamba said the project, which will run for three years in Traditional Authority (TA) Mponda, follows an assessment which showed that the area is falling behind in the fight against sexual abuse as well as food security.

“In our 2022 survey, we established that due to cultural practices, Gender Based Violence (GBV) is increasingly continuing in areas of Group Village Headmen Mponda, Muchande and Chipeta, under TA Mponda in Mangochi. Most affected groups are girls and women, and in other cases even boys.

“This violence includes sexual abuse, finance-related, physical abuse, and emotional abuse,” said Malamba.

He said the survey also showed poor performance of agriculture production, a development which is leading to chronic food and nutritional insecurities by most people in the district.

Malamba, therefore, said based on the established gaps, the organisation secured funding worth over K2 billion to implement the project aimed at reducing vulnerability of women and girls.

The project is also aimed at improving food and nutritional security of 3,000 vulnerable smallholder households in the three villages.

Malamba said amongst main activities that they intend to implement within three-year project include raising awareness on issues affecting adolescent girls and women, supporting community structures in addressing harmful cultural practices that lead to early marriages and pregnancies, as well as providing start-up grant to 150 village saving and loans association to implement resilient collective businesses.

Agriculture, Gender Roles Extension Support Services Officer for Mangochi, Chimwemwe Chisenga commended Islamic Relief for the project saying that it will help vulnerable communities to be self-reliant.

Chisenga said that due to lack of support by guardians, many adolescent girls in Mangochi get married earlier, a development which results into teenage pregnancies.

Mana/bw/mmm/pk