By Gracious Phiri

Kasungu, March 30, Mana: Kasungu District Council Social Welfare Officer, Ephraim Njikho, has expressed concern over lack of well-trained special needs teachers in primary schools, a development said to be hindering efforts towards achieving inclusive education in the district.

Njikho made the remarks Saturday following a joint monitoring visit for World Vision Malawi's Able to Thrive Project interventions at Mutchenda in the area of Senior Chief Chulu in Kasungu.

The project aims at improving the well-being of 4 300 children with disabilities by promoting access to quality and inclusive services for their cognitive, social, emotional and physical development.

According to Njikho, most primary schools lack special needs teachers, a situation that leads to a compromise on the provision of quality inclusive education in the district.

He therefore hailed World Vision Malawi for its intervention, saying Able to Thrive Project has already made a significant impact in promoting access to quality and inclusive education services for learners with disabilities.

"We are impressed with strides made under this project which has largely helped to take out obstacles that impeded children with disabilities from accessing education.

“However, we have observed that there is a shortage of special needs teachers in the schools, and this is among the bottlenecks that are slowing down the efforts being made,” Njikho said.

The Council's District's Education Management Information System Officer, Anthony Chipoka, acknowledged the challenge stating that the district has only 15 teachers that are trained with special needs skills.

He said: “With support from various partners, we have been able to introduce several initiatives to make sure that more teachers are equipped with special needs skills to reduce this gap.”

On her part, the charity’s Disability Inclusion Specialist, Chimwemwe Mungomo said the monitoring visit was organized to appreciate progress of the project and share ideas on areas to improve.

Through the Able to Thrive Project, World Vision Malawi is promoting inclusive education through the provision of assistive devices, establishing parent support groups and sign language clubs in schools and conducting referrals, among others.

The Project is being implemented in four districts of Mzimba North, Kasungu, Dowa and Ntchisi.

By Steve Chirombo

Dedza, March 29, Mana: In an effort to strengthen advocacy for the prevention of Intimate Partner Violence, the Pamodzi Kuthetsa Nkhanza consortium has organized a two-day engagement programme with the NGO-Gender Coordination Network (NGO-GCN).

The consortium, comprising the Women’s Legal Resources Centre (WOLREC), Girls Empowerment Network (GENET), and Human Rights of Women and Girls with Disabilities (WAG), is discussing key strategies to enhance the prevention of violence against women and girls.

Speaking on Friday at Mountain View Lodge in Dedza, Caroline Mvalo, NGO-GCN chairperson for the Gender-Related Laws Permanent Committee, emphasized the need to review the 2006 Domestic Violence Act to ensure it remains relevant and responsive to current challenges.

“Essentially, we are looking at the advocacy part of it. This act provides for tenancy order, protection order as well as occupation order which go along in protecting women and men, boys and girls from Gender Based Violence (GBV),” she said.

According to Mvalo, participants are being taken through key gender-related laws in Malawi to strengthen their understanding of legal frameworks that protect women and girls.

She further said in terms of advocacy, they noted some gaps within the law and their convergence was to see how best together they would advocate for the review and also implementation of the provisions in the Act.

WAG Executive Director Stella Nkhonya expressed concern over the rising cases of Intimate Partner Violence in Malawi.

"It is disheartening to see so many cases of violence occurring within relationships," she said.

The advocacy meeting is supported by the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.

By Bazilio Chingoli

Ntcheu, March 29, Mana: Women from various Christian dominations in Ntcheu district gathered at Ntcheu Roman Catholic ground on Friday to commemorate this year's Women's World Day of Prayer (WWDP).

Speaking during the ceremony, chairperson of WWDP for Ntcheu district, Emily Vakusi, said it is necessary for women in the world to have time for reflection and discuss their anxieties to foster unity among themselves.

Vakusi added that women need to ask God for wisdom and guidance on how they can execute their responsibilities, as they are pillars for their families  and the nation's development.

Taking her part, WWDP central region coordinator Tracey Masi asked women to have exemplary behaviour.

"A good mother is a reason for a happy family and the nation at large, so women need to be loving, caring and faithful to their families in order to raise their children with good morals," she said.

This year's prayers are being held under the theme: ‘You are wonderfully made’, taken from the biblical scripture of Psalms chapter 129 verse 14.

By Beatrice Bangura

Blantyre, March 29, Mana:  National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) has expressed satisfaction with the progress of Climate Smart-Enhanced Public Works Programme (CS-EPWP) activities in Chilambalale and Linjemesi catchment areas under Traditional Authorities Kapeni and Makata in Blantyre.

This was disclosed Thursday during an inter-district exchange learning visit that included delegations from Lilongwe, Phalombe, and Thyolo.

Speaking during the tour, NLGFC Coordinator of Finance, Henry Hunga, said progress of CS-EPWP in the two catchment areas was impressive as catchment management committees showed a lot of commitment per the NLGFC ongoing assessments.

“We are impressed with what participating communities have done in the catchments. We will continue with the visits across the country,” Hunga added.

Acting Director of Agriculture Services at Thyolo District Council, Mphatso Kafuwa, commended communities at Chilambalale and Linjemesi catchment areas for successfully implementing climate smart agricultural activities and other environmental conservation initiatives under CS-EPWP.

“The two catchments have performed very well, especially in constructing swales, stone bands on top of planting trees. This will help in conserving the environment and help to prevent disasters that occur due to effects of climate change,” Kafuwa added.

Chairperson of Linjemesi catchment management committee at Traditional Authority Makata, Chrissy Yasin, expressed gratitude with the learning tour of the visiting team, saying this was clear testimony of her committee’s dedication in managing CS-EPWP at catchment level.

“We are thankful to Blantyre District Council and our visitors for sparing their time to visit this catchment. This is a special consideration and honour,” she added.

The CS-EPWP aims at enhancing climate resilience among communities through reforestation, sustainable land management, and other nature-based solutions, benefiting both the environment and the local communities.

By Andrew Mkonda

Lilongwe, March 29, Mana: Lilongwe District Commissioner Lawford Palani has thanked government for including Lilongwe district council into the Sustainable Agriculture Production Program II (SAPP II), describing it as a game changer for the agriculture sector.

Palani made the remarks Friday at Nathenje Residential Training Centre during sensitization meeting of SAPP II for the frontline staff workers in the district.

He said he was happy to see that over 40,000 households, which include persons with disabilities, will benefit from the programme in the district in order to ensure inclusivity and equity in agriculture extension service delivery.

“Let me call upon the Agriculture Extension Development Coordinators (AEDC) and Agriculture Extension Development Officers (AEDO) to take this program seriously by guiding farmers towards adopting sustainable and profitable farming practices. Your dedication, innovation and commitment will determine the success of this program in our district," he said.

In his remarks, Director of Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources for Lilongwe district, Ezra Mbendela, said if the program will be well implemented in the district, it will among other things alleviate the challenges faced by farmers and at the same time increase smallholder productivity and climate resilience through the adaption of climate -smart agriculture and improved extension services.

Mbendela said that Lilongwe District Agriculture Office has been facing enormous challenges in activity implementation due to financial hiccups as the district has been relying on Other Recurrent Transaction (ORT) as a source of funds for operations which has been erratic and small.

“That is why we cherish projects and programmes like SAPP II coming to our district as they enable us reach out to more farming households than what we do with normal envelope of ORT which is usually small and erratic.

“I call my team in agriculture a winning team, as they always dedicate themselves whenever they are given an assignment to do as long as they are well supported,” he said

One of the participants, Mphatso Mtambalika, who is also the AEDO for Nyanja Extension Planning Area (EPA), said she was happy with the programme as it will improve productivity for farmers as they will be taught new agricultural farming practices. 

The SAPP II was designed to support the upscaling of SAPP approaches while promoting market-oriented crops and livestock production systems in support of agricultural productivity and commercialization which is in line with pillar number one of Malawi 2063.

The programme has also a strong focus on women empowerment, climate resilience and household food and nutrition security, whilst enhancing the natural resources base, such as land and water of the rural smallholder farmers.

By Memory Chatonda

Blantyre, March 29, Mana: Malawi Watershed Services Improvement Project (MWASIP) Coordinator for Blantyre District, Owen Malimba, has said the project has scaled up land restoration activities to about 8,483 hectares against 12,234 hectares projected target.

Malimba disclosed this on Thursday during a meeting that was held to discuss MWASIP implementation with traditional leaders, Catchment Management Committee (CMC) and Area Development Committee (ADC) members at Traditional Authority Kunthembwe’s area.

He said the land restoration and other environmental conservation related activities were done under sustainable land management component which involves gully reclamation, construction of stone bands, swales and conservation agriculture among others.

He added that the project also supported about 15,000 communities participating in MWASIP activities with matching grants and Community Environmental Conservation Fund (CECF).

“For matching grants, about K832 million has been disbursed to 30 farmers' groups, while under CECF, about K461 million has been given to the communities," Malimba said.

Senior Traditional Authority Kunthembwe also hailed MWASIP currently being implemented in his area, for restoring the degraded landscapes and also improving the people's livelihoods.

The senior chief acknowledged interventions such as sustainable land management (SLM) activities, saying great impact has been registered in the area, citing landscape restoration.

"Apart from this, the project also supported 30 farmers' groups participating in SLM activities with matching grants to venture into different business enterprises such as poultry farming, beekeeping, and livestock farming, while others were supported with money from the CECF to start income generating activities to sustain their livelihoods," he added.

Senior Chief Kunthembwe said he will continue encouraging his subjects to maintain assets that have been created through the project.

A CMC member at Namitondo in Kunthembwe area, Pililani Gulo, commended MWASIP for bailing out his family from abject poverty.

"MWASIP, through CECF, gave me about K500,000 to start a small-scale business and, today, I manage different businesses, including a grocery shop, to support my two children with basic needs," she said.

The meeting was organized under MWASIP's social marketing activity to allow different influential groups at the local level to reflect on the project as it is expected to phase out in the next 12 months.

By Tamala Kamanga

Dowa, March 29. Mana: Dowa District Environmental Officer (DEO) James Mtonga says Mother Care Groups (MCGs) are essential in promoting vaccine advocacy among under-five children in rural areas.

Mtonga made the remarks Friday at the end of a media tour organized to appreciate the progress of Extended Immunization Programme (EIP).

He said, before the formation of MCGs, it was difficult for the EIP to achieve its target.

"The major issue was defaulters which affected our immunization campaign, and to reach our target of 85 percent coverage. But the coming in of these MCGs has helped us to reach our target.

"The MCGs have been crucial in vaccine advocacy which is very important because the ideal situation is to have all children vaccinated with all the required vaccinations, and this promote their health well-being," he said.

The MCGs use volunteers to trace mothers with under-five children in their areas, and they follow up to make sure they are adhering to all immunization sessions.

Chizolowondo Health Centre MCG Secretary, Felia Binwell, said they conduct door-to-door visits to families that have under-five children to advocate for vaccinations.

She however said one of the challenges they meet is resistance due to cultural and religious beliefs.

"Our advocacy for vaccine uptake amongst under-five children has faced various challenges because of cultural and religious beliefs amongst some people. But we are making significant strides, and so far we have managed to convince six families to change their perceptions.

"Another challenge was space. We used to do under-five clinics under a tree, but through the trainings we had received, we have managed to build an under-five clinic in collaboration with our village leaders and parliamentarian," she said.

Binwell also said they have made strides in encouraging male involvement in children immunization.

The media visited Chilambe under-five clinic under Chizolowondo health centre in Traditional Authority (T/A) Chakhaza and Mtekenya health post in T/A Msakambewa.