The Electricity Supply Corporation of Malawi (ESCOM) has started laying fiber-optic cables that will connect Mozambique with the Zambian border town of Mchinji to ease communication problems.
"The cable networks will connect Tete in Mozambique and Mchinji and will provide services ranging from voice, data, fax and radio communication system," Harris Chinguwo, ESCOM chief engineer for fiber communication, announced at the 6th International Conference on Open Access in Malawi on Wednesday.
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The company is laying the cable on its power lines throughout Malawi to build the networks that will later form the country's national fiber-optic backbone.
The developers of the project are hoping that the high cost of communication the country is currently experiencing will be lowered once the construction of the cable networks is completed.
The cables will also provide ESCOM with a communication system linking the power generation center with control centers and, eventually, with the regional office.
So far, the company has constructed 280 kilometers of the cable network, Chinguwo said. The laying of the cable is moving quickly due to the power lines that the company has already constructed around the country, he explained.
At the end of the project, Chinguwo said, ESCOM will have enough bandwidth to lease to ISPs (Internet service providers), mobile service providers, television companies, and government and education institutions.
Wednesday, 12 November 2008
Support for Elderly in Malawi Declining Because of HIV/AIDS, Poverty, Government Report Says
A recent government report -- titled Social Protection and Ageing in Malawi and conducted by Zifa Kazeze, formerly of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa -- says that Malawi's elderly population is seeing less care and support from their children and communities as the impact of HIV/AIDS and a weakening economy changes family structures in the country, IRIN News reports. The government plans to release social grants to address this growing burden on the elderly population.
At the beginning of 2008, 11.9% of the country's adult population was living with HIV/AIDS, according to UNAIDS. Meanwhile, 13% of Malawi's children under age 18 are orphaned, primarily as a result of HIV/AIDS. IRIN News reports that because HIV/AIDS has had a major impact on the young adult generation, many orphans are in the care of their grandparents -- who often do not have economic stability and are unable to take care of both their own needs and the needs of their grandchildren. According to HelpAge International -- a global network of not-for-profit organizations that promotes the rights of older people -- between 50% to 60% of orphans in Malawi, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe live with their grandparents.
According to a 2003 report from Malawi's government, 48% of respondents either knew or heard about the abuse of an older person. "In the past, the elderly in Malawi used to depend on the economic and social support of their children and the community. With increased socio-economic difficulties and changing family ties, children fail to look after their ageing parents," the report said. The report also highlighted how older populations contribute to the socio-economic development of Malawi, adding, "It is important, therefore, that the implications of ageing issues in Malawi are understood, especially the challenges older persons face, and to respond to the challenges and opportunities of ageing."
Retired state employees in Malawi receive a pension fund, but 83% of the population lives in rural areas and receives no social protection. The report said, "There is therefore a need for a non-contributory pension as a significant component of old age income security." Recently, the Malawi government began a social cash transfer program -- piloted in July 2006 in the Mchinji District -- that provides a monthly cash subsidy to the poorest 10% of the country's households. The program -- which as of March 2008 had benefitted about 12,000 households -- found that elderly people headed most of the households and cared for young children, with no household members between ages 19 and 64, IRIN News reports. The program was funded by The Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, with assistance from the World Bank, the U.K. Department for International Development, the Canadian International Development Agency and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (IRIN News, 11/11).
At the beginning of 2008, 11.9% of the country's adult population was living with HIV/AIDS, according to UNAIDS. Meanwhile, 13% of Malawi's children under age 18 are orphaned, primarily as a result of HIV/AIDS. IRIN News reports that because HIV/AIDS has had a major impact on the young adult generation, many orphans are in the care of their grandparents -- who often do not have economic stability and are unable to take care of both their own needs and the needs of their grandchildren. According to HelpAge International -- a global network of not-for-profit organizations that promotes the rights of older people -- between 50% to 60% of orphans in Malawi, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe live with their grandparents.
According to a 2003 report from Malawi's government, 48% of respondents either knew or heard about the abuse of an older person. "In the past, the elderly in Malawi used to depend on the economic and social support of their children and the community. With increased socio-economic difficulties and changing family ties, children fail to look after their ageing parents," the report said. The report also highlighted how older populations contribute to the socio-economic development of Malawi, adding, "It is important, therefore, that the implications of ageing issues in Malawi are understood, especially the challenges older persons face, and to respond to the challenges and opportunities of ageing."
Retired state employees in Malawi receive a pension fund, but 83% of the population lives in rural areas and receives no social protection. The report said, "There is therefore a need for a non-contributory pension as a significant component of old age income security." Recently, the Malawi government began a social cash transfer program -- piloted in July 2006 in the Mchinji District -- that provides a monthly cash subsidy to the poorest 10% of the country's households. The program -- which as of March 2008 had benefitted about 12,000 households -- found that elderly people headed most of the households and cared for young children, with no household members between ages 19 and 64, IRIN News reports. The program was funded by The Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, with assistance from the World Bank, the U.K. Department for International Development, the Canadian International Development Agency and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (IRIN News, 11/11).
Malawi, Norway agree to control alcohol, drug abuses
Malawi and Norway, through its international developmental nongovernmental organisation called FORUT, on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) where FORUT will provide technical aid to implementing programmes that would prevent and control alcohol and drug abuse in the country for five years.
Speaking in the capital Lilongwe, Forut Secretary General Morton Lonstard said addressing alcohol and drug abuses as a development issue was a strong commitment of his organisation in developing countries like Malawi.
\"We are very much concerned about alcohol and drugs in the development work of the countries, hence the assistance to prevent the malpractice,\" he said.
He added that the FORUT’s aim was to build networks where ideas, experience and knowledge on preventive strategies could be exposed and developed further.
In Malawi the experts will bring in experience, knowledge, methodology and strategies in order to develop local strategies and action plan, Lonstard said.
Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security Ernest Malenga said Malawi was one of the countries in Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region faced with serious drug production, abuse and trafficking.
\"The problem is very serious in Malawi such that high number of road accidents, child abuse and gender based violence in the country are done under the influence of alcohol and drug abuses,\" he said.
Therefore, he said, there was need for a multi-sectoral approach by government, civil society and developing partners to work together to prevent and control the production, abuse and trafficking.
Speaking in the capital Lilongwe, Forut Secretary General Morton Lonstard said addressing alcohol and drug abuses as a development issue was a strong commitment of his organisation in developing countries like Malawi.
\"We are very much concerned about alcohol and drugs in the development work of the countries, hence the assistance to prevent the malpractice,\" he said.
He added that the FORUT’s aim was to build networks where ideas, experience and knowledge on preventive strategies could be exposed and developed further.
In Malawi the experts will bring in experience, knowledge, methodology and strategies in order to develop local strategies and action plan, Lonstard said.
Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security Ernest Malenga said Malawi was one of the countries in Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region faced with serious drug production, abuse and trafficking.
\"The problem is very serious in Malawi such that high number of road accidents, child abuse and gender based violence in the country are done under the influence of alcohol and drug abuses,\" he said.
Therefore, he said, there was need for a multi-sectoral approach by government, civil society and developing partners to work together to prevent and control the production, abuse and trafficking.
Malawi registers 2.8 million new voters on its electoral roll
Malawi’s voter registration exercise has so far registered over 2.8 million new voters who are expected to cast their votes in the 2009 parliamentary and presidential elections, according to Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) spokesperson Fergus Lipenga here Wednesday.
He told APA on Wednesday during an interview that the exercise, which is still going on and is in its fifth phase, aims to register seven million new voters for the general elections.
"We are optimistic that the number of new voters will surpass the actual target which the commission had announced earlier," he said.
Lipenga said voters were coming in large numbers to register in order for them to exercise their rights of choosing their leaders.
Malawi goes to the polls on 19 May 2009.
He told APA on Wednesday during an interview that the exercise, which is still going on and is in its fifth phase, aims to register seven million new voters for the general elections.
"We are optimistic that the number of new voters will surpass the actual target which the commission had announced earlier," he said.
Lipenga said voters were coming in large numbers to register in order for them to exercise their rights of choosing their leaders.
Malawi goes to the polls on 19 May 2009.
Therapist drought hits Malawi
Malawi only has 30 therapists out of an estimated population of 13 million, a development the Physiotherapy Association of Malawi said has increased the number of people with preventable disabilities.
PAM chairperson, Sylvia Kambalametole, said a quarter of the number of disabilities in Malawi could be avoided if there were "at least more therapists in the country, as well as local medical colleges specializing in this area." She said at the moment, Malawian therapists were being trained abroad, thus increasing the costs of education.
"Imagine, one therapist has to look after 500, 000 people. This is placing unnecessary pressure on the few human resource capacity we have, and there is need to increase the number. The sad thing is that most of the people with disabilities here have conditions that would have easily been avoided had they sought medical help much, much earlier," said Kambalametole.
PAM, which has been in existence since 1994, now wants to bridge the gap in knowledge, and has increased advocacy activities. A majority of Malawians do not go for medical check up, a situation that translates into "unnecessary" deaths, as people succumb to illnesses that could have otherwise been avoided.
PAM chairperson, Sylvia Kambalametole, said a quarter of the number of disabilities in Malawi could be avoided if there were "at least more therapists in the country, as well as local medical colleges specializing in this area." She said at the moment, Malawian therapists were being trained abroad, thus increasing the costs of education.
"Imagine, one therapist has to look after 500, 000 people. This is placing unnecessary pressure on the few human resource capacity we have, and there is need to increase the number. The sad thing is that most of the people with disabilities here have conditions that would have easily been avoided had they sought medical help much, much earlier," said Kambalametole.
PAM, which has been in existence since 1994, now wants to bridge the gap in knowledge, and has increased advocacy activities. A majority of Malawians do not go for medical check up, a situation that translates into "unnecessary" deaths, as people succumb to illnesses that could have otherwise been avoided.
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