Blantyre, Malawi - The South African songstress, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, is in Malawi to launch an ambitious anti-malaria campaign. United Nations Children's Fund [UNICEF] Communications Officer Kusali Kubwalo told PANA Thursday Chaka Chaka - who is UNICEF's Regional Malaria Goodwill Ambassador - would launch a two-week campaign to distribute 1.1 million insecticide-treated mosquito nets to children under the age of five.
The ceremony will be held in the lake-shore district of Mangochi on Friday.
"The campaign seeks to distribute over one million treated mosquito nets to benefit under-five children and pregnant mothers at no cost," she said.
Kubwalo said government adopted the strategy to use treated nets among children and pregnant mothers as a key tool to prevent and control malaria in the country.
Malaria remains a leading cause of death of children under the age of five in Malawi.
At least 18 per cent of all hospital deaths and 40 per cent of out-patient visits are due to malaria.
Malaria, according to UNICEF, is responsible for anaemae among children and also contributes to absenteeism in schools.
Last year, there were 4 million reported cases of malaria in Malawi, with 7,000 people dying of the disease.
Thursday, 31 July 2008
Malawi teenage swimmer sees Beijing Olympics as a chance to learn
BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) -- To Malawian teenage swimmer Zahra Pinto, the 2008 Olympic Games is more of a journey for learning than performing.
Having swum in a long-course pool for the first time only days before coming to Beijing, the 14-year-old said Thursday that she would be happy if she could simply better her personal best at the Games.
"I am here to gain experience," said Pinto, who started to learn swimming at six and quickly emerged as the fastest female swimmer in her country, where there are no more than 100 professional swimmers.
After practicing for two and a half hours at Beijing's National Aquatics Center, known as the "Water Cube," Pinto said she was amazed with the pool and the venue. "I am sure I would be really nervous (at the upcoming competition)."
Compared with Western swimmers who enjoyed high-tech training facilities and supports ranging from tailored swimming suits to chiropractor, it seems Pinto has lost the game from the very beginning. Without indoor pools in Malawi, she has to overcome sizzling sun or chilly water in training.
Before coming to Beijing, the girl got her first chance swimming in a 50-meter indoor pool in South Africa. "It's getting cold in Malawi. The temperature in the out-door pool is only 16 to 19 Celsius degree. It's too cold for swimmers," said Pinto's coach Yona Walesi, who is also the first domestic swimming coach in Malawi.
Pinto trained four to five days a week and one hour a day regularly in a 25-meter pool in Malawi. Walesi said it would be a challenge for Pinto to swim the long-course at the Beijing Games and they are not expecting good results.
"She has great potential. But as you know, she is very young and has no experience. We have to expose her to big events so that she could be better at the next Olympics," Walesi said.
Pinto will compete in women's 50 freestyle in Beijing and her competitors include U.S. veteran Dara Torres and Australia's world record holder Libby Trickett. Her best time is about ten seconds beyond the world record.
Walesi said swimming is a "new sport" in Malawi and the country has a total of three swimming clubs. "We hope more people could be interested in swimming in our country and the sports could be further developed."
Walesi's teammate, 19-year-old Charlton Nyirenda, will compete in the men's 50 meter freestyle.
According to the FINA qualification system, if a country or region has no swimmers qualified for the Olympics, it's allowed to enter one man and one woman to the Games.
The southeastern African country is dispatching four athletes to the Beijing Games which also comprises short distance runners Chancy Master and Lucia Chandamale.
Having swum in a long-course pool for the first time only days before coming to Beijing, the 14-year-old said Thursday that she would be happy if she could simply better her personal best at the Games.
"I am here to gain experience," said Pinto, who started to learn swimming at six and quickly emerged as the fastest female swimmer in her country, where there are no more than 100 professional swimmers.
After practicing for two and a half hours at Beijing's National Aquatics Center, known as the "Water Cube," Pinto said she was amazed with the pool and the venue. "I am sure I would be really nervous (at the upcoming competition)."
Compared with Western swimmers who enjoyed high-tech training facilities and supports ranging from tailored swimming suits to chiropractor, it seems Pinto has lost the game from the very beginning. Without indoor pools in Malawi, she has to overcome sizzling sun or chilly water in training.
Before coming to Beijing, the girl got her first chance swimming in a 50-meter indoor pool in South Africa. "It's getting cold in Malawi. The temperature in the out-door pool is only 16 to 19 Celsius degree. It's too cold for swimmers," said Pinto's coach Yona Walesi, who is also the first domestic swimming coach in Malawi.
Pinto trained four to five days a week and one hour a day regularly in a 25-meter pool in Malawi. Walesi said it would be a challenge for Pinto to swim the long-course at the Beijing Games and they are not expecting good results.
"She has great potential. But as you know, she is very young and has no experience. We have to expose her to big events so that she could be better at the next Olympics," Walesi said.
Pinto will compete in women's 50 freestyle in Beijing and her competitors include U.S. veteran Dara Torres and Australia's world record holder Libby Trickett. Her best time is about ten seconds beyond the world record.
Walesi said swimming is a "new sport" in Malawi and the country has a total of three swimming clubs. "We hope more people could be interested in swimming in our country and the sports could be further developed."
Walesi's teammate, 19-year-old Charlton Nyirenda, will compete in the men's 50 meter freestyle.
According to the FINA qualification system, if a country or region has no swimmers qualified for the Olympics, it's allowed to enter one man and one woman to the Games.
The southeastern African country is dispatching four athletes to the Beijing Games which also comprises short distance runners Chancy Master and Lucia Chandamale.
Lessons learned from a cash transfer project in Malawi
In response to the 2004/5 crop failure, Oxfam planned a programme in southern Malawi, which included a ‘pilot’ cash-transfer project in Traditional Authority (TA) Kapichi, Thyolo District. The project was to support 4,000 households with monthly cash transfers to provide for their immediate food needs from November to March. After the first two months, coverage was increased to a total of 6,000 households.
This report provides:
* assessment and analysis of the effectiveness of the programme
* recommendations for improvement to be used in future responses
* recommendations with respect to the design of longer-term social transfer programmes in the same geographic areas.
The report finds that the project was well implemented in terms of delivering the cash transfers to those who were targeted to receive them. Prior experience of working in the area and the involvement of finance staff from the start of the project resulted in a very smooth and effective operation.
There were, however, concerns about the targeting methodology used. This should clearly be a cause
for concern and there is a need therefore for Oxfam to review how it approached targeting in this case. However, these targeting concerns do not seem to have been particularly related to the use of cash.
This report provides:
* assessment and analysis of the effectiveness of the programme
* recommendations for improvement to be used in future responses
* recommendations with respect to the design of longer-term social transfer programmes in the same geographic areas.
The report finds that the project was well implemented in terms of delivering the cash transfers to those who were targeted to receive them. Prior experience of working in the area and the involvement of finance staff from the start of the project resulted in a very smooth and effective operation.
There were, however, concerns about the targeting methodology used. This should clearly be a cause
for concern and there is a need therefore for Oxfam to review how it approached targeting in this case. However, these targeting concerns do not seem to have been particularly related to the use of cash.
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