By Tiyanjane Nandie Mambucha

Lilongwe April 30, Mana: Malawi`s President, Dr. Lazarus Chakwera on Tuesday appealed for in-kind and financial support towards Malawians that were affected by the El Nino induced prolonged dry spell and floods.

He made the appeal on Tuesday, when he launched the National El Nino Induced Prolonged Dry spell and Floods Response Plan, at a function that took place at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe.

Chakwera expressed gratitude to individuals, organizations and nations that already started supporting Malawi when he declared a state of national disaster in 23 out of the country's 28 districts.

''I urge you to stand with Malawi again in the present storm. Already in response to the state of disaster, a number of you reached out with resources. I am urging you to please align the support with the national response plan, and the support should be driven by data provided by the plan,'' said Chakwera.

The launch was witnessed by various stakeholders from humanitarian partners, companies, religious bodies, associations, government ministries, departments and agencies, foreign governments, organizations and individuals of goodwill.

UN Resident coordinator, Rabecca Adda Dontoh, said partners need to come together to support Malawi, as this has come when Malawi had not yet fully recovered from other disasters.

''The response plan is a balance, it’s for immediate humanitarian need, medium and long term response on agricultural production. Therefore, I am calling on all international development partners, even friends of Malawi to rally around this response plan,'' said Dontoh.

Presenting an overview of the National El Nino induced prolonged dry spell and floods response appeal, Commissioner for DoDMA, Charles Kalemba said the response appeal indicates the need for support in terms of production and consumption.

''The response plan aims at addressing the immediate impact and also focuses on building up the capacity of Malawians to produce, in order to stock up the grain reserves, in an effort to rebuild and recover from the severe impact of the prolonged dry spell and floods,'' said Kalemba.

Kalemba also presented the Cyclone Freddy response and progress, saying there was a good response from various stakeholders towards the Cyclone Freddy survivors.

''A total sum of K6.2 billion was mobilized for the Cyclone Freddy, and was used for; decommissioning of camps in Blantyre, procurement of food and non-food items, implementation of cash transfers, rehabilitation of roads and health Centre’s, transportation of relief items, search and rescue operations and packaging of relief items” said Kalemba.

The response plan is mobilizing resources of about K800 billion, which is expected to assist 2 Million households that have been affected by the El Nino induced prolonged dry spell and floods.