Malawi losing four nurses to Aids every month

Malawi is currently losing four nurses to HIV and Aids related diseases every month, the National Association of Nurses of Malawi (NONM) has revealed

NONM president, Isabella Akunjawa Musisi, said that nurses and mid-wives in the country, just as the entire population, are succumbing to the HIV/Aids pandemic and related diseases.

"Based on reports from our membership we have found out that at least four nurses are dying every month," she said.

The nurses president bemoaned that the development was robbing the country of the already very few nurses and mid wives whose numbers at the moment should be increasing.

"In Malawi currently we have 7 000 nurses against a multitude of about 12 million people, a situation that puts our nurses at an awkward situation because the recommended patient- nurse ratio for maternity is 1- 6 and just it doesn't work with current numbers," said Musisi.

Malawi currently produces about 500 nurses mid wives per year but needs at least 2000 nurse midwives in order to cope with the current health problem.

The study, Musisi said, was designed to assess knowledge and perception of health care workers on voluntary counseling and testing, HIV/Aids training, risk of health care workers in the work environment, infection prevention practices, impact of HIV/Aids on care and support of patients amongst other things.

"The project was then designed to address the recommendations in terms of VCT, education and training in infection and HIV/Aids, prevention, care and support, lobbying and advocacy and networking," said Musisi.

Malawi food management strategy ready October

The strategic plan to guide the National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) so as to effectively and efficiently manage the country's grain reserves in an effort to reduce food insecurity will rollout next month.

NFRA, Malawi's grain stock holder's chief executive officer Edward Sawerengera said the strategic framework to improve the country's grain storage and disaster preparedness is now ready for implementation after undergoing scrupulous consultations with farmers, NGOs and government agencies involved in food management.

"The strategy charts our way and guides our operations. We know where we are and we know where we want to be in terms of food storage and we are sure this document will guide us there," said Sawerengera.

The Ministry of Agriclture has welcomed the development saying it is in line with government's effort to restructure the agriculture sector.

Controller of Agricultural Services in the Ministry of Agriculture Dr Jeffrey Luhanga said the ministry would like to see NFRA keep enough maize for a longer period of time.

"We believe this plan will ensure good delivery," he said.

Luhanga, however, advised the grain stocker to consider starting a programme to monitor how maize harvest and seeds are kept at household level.

"This we believe would avert food shortage by saving over 40 percent of the maize harvested every year," said Luhanga.

"NFRA should monitor the situation of domestic storage and advise government on how to combat wasteful practices because the silos will end up with bad maize if the grain is not stored well in the village. Malawi is investing so much in food production and wants to see an end to this wastefulness," he said.

The strategy comes in the wake of rising food prices and scarcity of the grain due to hoarding by traders. It is expected that about 1.5 million people face food shortage due to the unavailability of the grain on the market.

The NFRA has grain storage silos in Lilongwe, in the central region, and in Mangochi, southern region.

It intends to open others in the northern region city of Mzuzu and Luchenza in the south by January next year.

Malawi to gain third operator in May 2009

Malawi newcomer Globally Advanced Integrated Network (Gain) says it will launch services in May 2009, reports local newspaper The Daily Times. The company states that it will deploy a network based on Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA) technology, and that it will focus on rural areas and other places where there is no coverage currently. The Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) declared Gain as the winner of the country's third mobile phone licence in July 2008.

Internal auditors institute’s global manager to visit Malawi

The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA)’s Global Regional Manager responsible for Asia, Africa and Middle East, Sunil Saluja, will visit Malawi next week to discuss matters of mutual interest as a way of kick-starting the implementation IIA Malawi\’s five-year strategic plan, APA learnt here Friday.

Chief Executive Officer for IIA Malawi, Godfrey Msowoya, said in an interview that one of the IIA Malawi\’s strategic milestones is to ensure adherence to professional requirements.

"Internal Auditors proficiency will feature highly in the discussions, including the promotion of the Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) designation," he said.

For more than 30 years, he said, IIA premier certification, the CIA designation, has reflected in the principles and practices of internal auditing and has served as the only internationally accepted designation for internal auditors.

He said earning CIA designation is an important accomplishment and professional advantage of internal auditors during the stages of their careers.

While in the country from 29 September to 2 October, Saluja will meet officials from both public and private sector to share ideas and experiences, Msowoya said.

Food Crisis Threatening World Stability - Malawian President

Excerpt from report by state-owned Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) radio on 25 September

[Presenter] His Excellency the president, Dr Bingu wa Mutharika, has said the current food crisis that has rocked the world poses a new threat to the stability of social framework and economic prosperity of all countries in the world, especially the small nations.

President Mutharika was addressing the on-going United Nations General Assembly in New York.

In a speech, which he titled The Global Food Crisis: a Collective Challenge to the United Nations, Dr Mutharika said during the past 20 years, the food production in many countries has been affected by severe climate changes such as cyclones, hurricanes, typhoons, floods, droughts, rising sea levels and desertification.

The president said high dependency on rain-fed agriculture has also caused a great challenge especially in countries in the sub- Saharan region. He said agriculture and food production had been given low priority by the international development institutions in their allocation of resources and investment funds.

Dr Mutharika said this has been compounded by low national budgetary allocation to food production in many countries, especially in Africa.

The president therefore said the food crisis resulted from failure of all nations to increase performance in the production of staple food crops such as wheat, rice and maize. He also said there was general concern in Africa that multi-lateral and bi-lateral institutions continued to oppose subsidies to agriculture and food production, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia and Latin America. [Passage omitted]

The Malawi government sees the attainment of global food security as a collective challenge. This must be premised on the ability to produce sufficient food and to move such food from surplus areas anywhere on the globe to food deficit areas.

In order to alleviate the global food crisis Malawi proposes that a contract should be reached that countries that can produce sufficient food surpluses should be empowered to share with others in the world wherever they may be through a fair international trading system. This would ensure that the entire humanity has enough food.

Second, Malawi proposes that the United nations should urge industrialized countries to make significant increases in resource allocation into agriculture, especially food production. Special attention should be given to improve infrastructure, machinery and equipment and capacity building for farmers, especially small- holder farmers. The private sector in industrialized countries should be persuaded to increase investment in food production, paying special attention to the application of science and technology to agriculture, research on climate change and on the measures to protect food producing countries from the vagaries of the climate.

Third, Malawi believes that a global food crisis could be mitigated if the United Nations, the World Bank and other multi- lateral and donor agencies would seriously consider granting subsidies for agriculture and food production as an integral part of their global development policy and aid packages to developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.

It will also be useful if the international community could acknowledge Africa's potential and capacity to contribute significantly to the solution of the global food shortage. The United Nations should fully support the alliance for an African Green Revolution chaired by the former secretary general of the United Nations, Mr Kofi Annan.

To this specifically Malawi appeals to the G-8 countries to support us to create a Green Belt around our lakes and along our rivers to irrigate land up to 20 kilometres from the shores. The Malawi government plans to grow a lot of rice, wheat, maize, millet, cassava, potatoes, beans and [words indistinct] for the local and international market. [Passage omitted]

Originally published by MBC radio, Blantyre, in English 1600 25 Sep 08.

Local players chosen for Bafana squad to meet Malawi

Local players chosen for Bafana squad to meet Malawi

25 September 2008





Bafana Bafana national team coach Joel Natalino Santana has announced a 23-man squad of South African-based players for the friendly match against Malawi at the Germiston Stadium on Tuesday, 30 September 2008, at 7pm.

Santana says this is an opportunity for each player to showcase what they are made of.


“This is part of the original programme of using 2007 and 2008 to identify and give those players a chance to be in the National Team," he said in a statement. "From this game, we are more interested in what each player can offer to the country as we work towards the core of the Team.

"It is also a platform for the players to gain international experience. We want to see the character of some of the players at this level of the game,” says Santana.

Tickets for the game are R20 for the grass embankment and R30 in the main grandstand and are already on sale at Computicket, Shoprite and Checkers Hyper stores.

Malawi Women Push for Parliamentary Positions with the Help of the 50:50 Program

Women in Malawi push for a more active role in goverment. Photograph by Pilirani Semu-Banda. •No political meeting happens in Malawi without song and dance. Clad in colorful political party regalia, women and girls are the traditional singers and dancers for the country’s political parties. They sing adoring songs of praise for the political leaders they support and mock those who represent political interests different from their own. The majority of Malawi’s politicians are men.

As the country’s Presidential and Parliamentary elections draw closer, the women of Malawi want to move away from being mere singers and dancers; 425 women have mobilized to contest for the country’s 193 parliamentary positions in next May’s elections.

An aspiring MP Margret Nyakondowe says she is contesting because she understands the challenges facing people, especially women and children, better than any man.

"I am a mother and I know the needs of mothers in this country. I would like to see an end to those challenges and I will advocate for them in Parliament," says Nyakondowe.


The quest for more political positions for women is being championed by 42 civil society groups under the NGO Gender Coordination Network (NGO GCN) and the country’s Ministry of Women. Technical and financial support is coming from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Canadian International Development Agency, Action Aid International, Danish Church Aid, OXFAM-GB, GTZ and the Royal Norwegian Embassy.

In July, the campaigners launched a national program to increase women’s representation and participation in politics and decision-making positions – the crusade has been dubbed the 50:50 campaign. Its primary goal is to have 50 percent or more women holding parliamentary positions after the 2009 elections.

Lilian Patel, Chairperson of the Malawi Parliamentary Women Caucus and a current MP, says the women are not asking for special favors, just to be given a chance to be part of the country’s development.

"We always work extra hard as women in Parliament. We want to see women and the whole nation prosper. We have the people's interest at heart," says Patel, who has been an MP for 14 years.

The battle promises to be tough since the targets set are much higher than the number of women who currently hold decision making positions; at the moment there is only a 14 percent representation of women in Parliament, 16 percent in the executive arm of government and 12 percent in the judiciary.

“Malawi has made unsatisfactory strides in getting more women into Parliament,” worries Minister of Women and Child Development, Anna Kachikho, especially since the country is party to various international and regional instruments which call for the involvement of women in decision-making positions. Malawi has ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Gender and Development Declaration, the Beijing Declaration, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights and the African Union Solemn Declaration of Gender Equality.

Already, hurdles against the women aspirants are emerging from the country’s major political parties – some leaders in constituencies are literally blocking women from contesting. The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has set up excessive primary elections participation fees to hinder women from contesting, while the major opposition party, Malawi Congress Party (MCP), has declared that it will not give any special treatment to its women parliamentary candidates.


• Women in Malawi sing in praise of their favorite politicians, but soon hope to have a more important stake in the country's development. Photograph by Pilirani Semu-Banda. •“Of course the elections are a competition, but men already have an unfair advantage over women, partly because of their well established financial capacity,” says executive director of the Association for Progressive Women (APW), Reen Kachere. According to government gender statistics, only 23 percent of women in Malawi have an equal or greater say in economic decisions at home.
“With start up financial incentives for women, the situation could be reversed to ensure sustainable women participation in politics and decision making,” says Kachere.

Under the 50:50 program, each candidate will be trained in assertiveness, advocacy, lobbying and campaigning. They will also receive $700 as start-up campaign money and media exposure.

Community-based sensitization forums are also being held to lobby traditional and religious leaders on the advantages of voting for a woman. Chiefs and heads of religious organizations are very influential within Malawi communities and command great respect.

But according to NGO GCN board chairperson Emma Kaliya, violence also deters women from participating in politics. Reports of violence and harassment always occur in Malawi, especially in the run-up to elections. Fights have already been broken up this month as different political parties hold parliamentary primary elections.

This unruly behavior by male parliamentarians discourages many women from contesting and the use of insults against women MPs is ever present in the Malawi national assembly.

The leader of opposition in Parliament, John Tembo, recently accused women in Parliament of getting cosmetic surgery. While making the remark, he pointed at the Minister of Information, Patricia Kaliati, one of the women in Parliament who is well-groomed. Some women MPs have even been called prostitutes, ugly and unmarried.

“MPs should tone down the language they use against women. This is a sad development because the shortage of women in the House is affecting discussions that affect them. For instance, issues to do with maternal deaths and property grabbing are not discussed,” says Kaliya.

But those championing the 50:50 campaign continue to encourage women’s participation in the coming elections despite these impediments. Through UNFPA, the United Nations in Malawi believes that a critical mass of women in politics tends to influence public priorities and helps to keep gender equality, women’s rights and issues of reproductive health rights high on the agenda of public policies and budgets.

Says UNFPA gender expert Veronica Njikho, “UNFPA is committed to helping the Malawi government and other civil society organizations that are championing the 50:50 campaign to ensure that they strengthen the skills of women aspirants for them to run successful campaigns.”

Njikho also says the UN would like to see political parties provided with the skills necessary to ensure that conducive political space is provided to women contestants and that the general populace is mobilized to support women candidates during the elections.

The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), which facilitates elections in the country and boasts 50 percent female representation, also supports the effort. The chairperson of the electoral body, Anastasia Msosa, has since appealed to traditional, political and religious leaders to make deliberate efforts to encourage more female participation in the 2009 electoral process.

Msosa observes that the active participation of women is vital considering that females in the country make up 60 percent of the electorate. “It would be great to see women use their voting power to be in power,” says Msosa.

But it is not only women that want to see the number of women increase. A prominent male civil rights activist in the country, Unandi Banda, says it is vital to choose women for parliamentary positions as they know social and economic problems much better than most men because women and girls in Malawi suffer most in terms of securing basic resources like water and firewood.

“Women are better placed to come up with policies that could improve the people’s lives,” says Banda. “For example, the lone member of parliament for the opposition Alliance for Democracy, Loveness Gondwe, always gives constructive criticisms during parliamentary debates. Most male MPs just make unnecessary noise.”

A district commissioner in Malawi’s southern district of Chikwawa, Lowford Palani, says that every nation requires the full involvement of women to develop.

Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) executive director Undule Mwakasungula agrees with the sentiments that it is the women that know best the socioeconomic problems confronting the country.

“Look at the long distances women travel to the nearest health center for health care, only to be told there are no drugs. Look at the long distances they cover to fetch water,” says Mwakasungula. Most women and girls in Malawi travel an average of 5 kilometers per day to collect water, carrying a container that holds about 20 kilograms of water on their heads. The average person in Malawi travels 20 kilometers to reach the nearest health center.

Like the many of the people who support these women in their fight for parliament, I believe women make better leaders than men. The women in the Malawi Parliament and those in decision-making positions are rarely implicated in corruption cases. They're more honest and have the people's interest at heart; issues of national importance like the environment, health and education get more attention from women parliamentarians.

The Malawi government through the Ministry of Women and Child Development has since pledged its commitment to ensure that women have equal access to parliamentary seats.

UNFPA Resident Representative in Malawi, Esperance Fundira, says the program to increase women in politics is not just about numbers. Citing the critical role women parliamentarians played in getting the Prevention of Domestic Violence Bill passed into law in 2006 she says, “There is overwhelming evidence from within Malawi on the difference women bring to the table when they are in key decision making positions. We must remember that by empowering a woman, the whole nation tends to benefit and we stand a better chance of achieving the Millennium Development Goals and making gender equality a reality.”

Malawi launches ‘Letter to the Community’ initiative to promote child survival

Hon. Patricia Kaliati symbolically posts a letter to mark the official launch of the ‘Letter to the Community’ campaign promoting child survival in Malawi.

LILONGWE, Malawi, 25 September 2008 – For the first time in Malawi’s history, 25,000 communities will soon receive personalized letters from the Minister of Health and other national leaders. The letters contain messages promoting child survival and development.

The initiative, dubbed ‘Letter to the Community’, was recently launched by Minister of Information and Civic Education Patricia Kaliati at a ceremony held at the Malawi Postal Corporation in Lilongwe.

“The high-impact interventions on accelerated child survival and development spelled out in the letters will promote community dialogue and collective actions, at the village level, for behaviour and social change,” said Ms. Kaliati.

The initiative will reach out to hundreds of thousands of Malawians through a network of 25,000 community leaders – all as part of the effort to accelerate Malawi’s progress towards the Millennium Development Goal of a two-thirds reduction in under-five child mortality by 2015.

A challenge to take action
Though impressive results have already been recorded, more remains to be done for the country to achieve its MDG target on child survival. UNICEF Representative in Malawi Aida Girma noted that one in eight children born here never reaches age five. Most under-five deaths result from preventable illnesses.

“These letters will address specific high-impact interventions and propose actions that need to be taken by households and communities, at very low cost, to prevent diseases and save the lives of children,” said Ms. Girma.

If all goes according to plan, traditional authorities will meet with their village headmen and hand over the letters. The village headmen will then convene meetings with community members to read the messages, encourage dialogue and challenge villagers to take the necessary actions and address relevant issues.

The letters, which will contain various themes, are to be endorsed by the President of Malawi.

A Malawi Postal Corporation vehicle bears messages on accelerated child survival and development.

“We are happy to contribute to the government’s development agenda to improve the survival rates of children and women by disseminating these important letters,” said Acting Post-Master General Joseph Chiusiwa. “This is a great initiative.”

The ‘Letter to the Community’ campaign is collaborative effort of the Ministries of Health, Information and Civic Education, the Malawi Postal Corporation and UNICEF.

Besides this initiative, others are planned – including the ‘Letter to the Box’ project, in which roughly 60,000 similar letters will be sent to all registered postal boxes in Malawi. Child survival messages will be printed on postage stamps, public transport buses and post offices, as well.