|
Key facts about Malawi
Malawi is a land locked country, with a population of over 12 million and a population density of over 100 people per sq. km. More than half of the population live below the national poverty line of about $0.50 per day. Poverty levels have remained unchanged since the early 1990s.
There are chronic problems of hunger and alarming HIV and AIDS prevalence rates. Over one fifth of all people are not able to meet their minimum nutritional requirements while in 2005, approximately 14.1 percent of the adult population ages 15 to 49 in Malawi was living with HIV/AIDS. With one of the highest adult prevalence rates in the world, the epidemic has exacerbated social problems as diverse as food security and human resource capacity.
GOAL in Malawi
GOAL has implemented programmes in Malawi since 2002. A deadly combination of chronic poverty, bad weather, bad harvests, and a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS left almost 5 million people in need of food aid in the early part of 2007. GOAL distributes monthly rations of maize, oil and beans to over 34,000 households in Nsanje district. GOAL continues to implement supplementary feeding intervention to vulnerable and food insecure households orphans and chronically ill patients in Nsanje district to improve their short term food security and nutritional status. GOAL also distributes survival kits containing water treating chemicals and basic household items in the post flooding period to allow flood victims cope with in the new settlement camps.
GOAL is implementing a disaster preparedness programme focusing on building the capacity of communities and local government structures to prepare for and respond to emergencies and reduce future impacts of natural and human calamities.
GOAL’s other programmes the promotion of winter cropping during the dry season and growing techniques designed to increase crop diversification and protect the environment including, community gardens; small-scale irrigation; soil and water conservation; compost-making and 56 tree nurseries producing over 500,000 saplings. GOAL also provides sustainable livelihood options including livestock, poultry rearing and bee-keeping to the most vulnerable communities and trains communities in life-skills.
In Nsanje and Blantyre districts in southern Malawi, GOAL is running a nutrition programme designed to reduce child morbidity and mortality due to malnutrition by improving the nutrition and health status of children between the age of 6 months to 11 years. The programme delivers care to acutely malnourished people and trains communities in malnourishment combating options. GOAL also supports the Ministry of Health to roll-out Community-based Therapeutic Care (CTC) in 15 health centres in Blantyre district. GOAL is also overseeing the establishment of nutritional gardens in schools and communities.
GOAL is supporting communities in Nsanje district to identify and rehabilitate 550 malnourished children of 6 months to 5years identified in the community through Positive Deviance Hearth Sessions. These sessions utilise the good example of mothers with healthy children to teach other mothers in the community how to keep their children well-nourished and healthy.
GOAL Malawi also implements a HIV/AIDS programme in Blantyre, Balaka and Nsanje districts which provides support, treatment and care to those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. GOAL has overseen a number of AIDS prevention and care initiatives, including programmes to promote youth friendly services, provision of basic drugs and mosquito nets, improving the skills of health service providers, increasing the number of testing centres and preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
GOAL has been implementing a Construction Support Programme for People Living with HIV and AIDS through provision of meeting places and latrines. In order to reduce the spread of HIV infection among target communities, GOAL’s HIV/AIDS programme promotes prevention, empowerment and positive living. GOAL currently provides food to 9000 chronically ill patients.
The HIV and AIDS epidemic has heavily affected children. At the end of 2005, there was an estimated 91,000 children in Malawi living with HIV, and over half a million children had been orphaned by AIDS. GOAL’s orphan and vulnerable children housing construction programme is building 100 houses and latrines for orphan households in Nsanje district. The GOAL orphan feeding programme also provides 4,100 orphan households with a monthly food ration.
GOAL Malawi is also implementing the Nsanje education, water and sanitation (NEWS) programme to help improve education and hygiene facilities, food security and nutritional levels. Through this programme GOAL will construct over 100 new classrooms and rehabilitate over 50 classrooms over the next four years, including construction of toilets and teachers’ houses, and the provision of desks, chairs, books and other equipment. The project will also provide potable water and sanitation facilities for pupils, teachers and local communities and use health promotion messages in order to improve awareness and understanding of health issues.
A GOAL MALAWI PROJECT FUNDED BY THE EUROPEAN
COMMISSION THROUGH ITS HUMANITARIAN AID DEPARTMENT –
DIPECHO CO FINANCED BY IRISH AID
 
Action Synopsis: In the disaster prone southern
District of Nsanje, GOAL, through the financial support of
European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid Department, is
working with local communities to increase their capacity
to prepare for floods and drought.
Facts and figures:
Beneficiaries: 7,000
Duration: 15 months
Dates: 1 October 2008 – 31 December 2009
Location: Mlolo, Mbenje, Nyachikadza and Ngabu Traditional
Authorities in Nsanje District, Southern Malawi
Objective: Strengthen community capacity on disaster awareness,
communication, preparedness and risk reduction project
Title of the Action: Strengthen Community Capacity on Disaster
Awareness, Communication, Preparedness and Risk Reduction
Project
Budget: €324,385.48
Project overview
In Nsanje District, approximately 50% of households are vulnerable
to flooding and its related impacts during 2008 with 2,915
households displaced and losing their crops and a further
13,700 lost their crops. An estimated 2,906 hectares of valuable
agriculture land was damaged.
The area is continually threatened by the perennial double
risk of floods and drought. Poverty levels across Nsanje are
severe with over 76% of the population living below the national
poverty line and 44% considered to be ultra poverty. The increasing
frequency and intensity of floods have over the years has
eroded the capacity of vulnerable communities to cope with
and respond to flooding. This situation is exasperated by
inadequate knowledge and skills, weak communication and limited
early warnings data collection systems.
To minimise the impact of disasters on the vulnerable communities
to natural disasters, GOAL rolled out disaster preparedness
and mitigation activities in 2007 through increasing the level
of understanding, awareness and coping mechanisms within local
government structures and communities. GOAL’s Disaster
Management programme aims to empower local communities and
their Civil Protection Committees through Participatory Vulnerability
Assessments, emergency drills, the dissemination of disaster
risk reduction messages and disaster mitigation works.
The project, funded by the European Commission’s Humanitarian
Aid department, supports over 7,000 direct beneficiaries who
are highly flood prone individuals across the 25 targeted
villages in four Traditional Authorities of Nsanje. Schools
and health clinics are specifically targeted as they are meeting
points within their local communities and children and the
chronically ill are particularly vulnerable to natural disaster.
In addition, an estimated 25,967 individuals (12,665 males,
13,302 females) across the 406 villages serviced by the Village
and Area Civil Protection Committees are indirectly benefiting
from this Disaster Preparedness Project.
Expected results
1. The capacity of Village Civil Protection Committees in
increased to enable them identify, design and implement disaster
preparedness activities in their areas.
2. The capacities of public institutions, in particular health
centres, schools and local communities are increased to areas
disaster awareness and preparedness.
3. Awareness of targeted communities is increased on the usage
of Early Warning Systems.
4. Project lessons are recorded and shared with local, national
and international stakeholders.
Activities
• Provide technical and material support to Village
Civil Protection Committees in organisational and disaster
management, Participatory Vulnerability Assessments, first
aid training and rescue and small scale mitigation works;
• Raise public disaster awareness in targeted health
centres and schools through production and provision of IEC
materials, drama/poem competitions, quizzes, school clubs
and emergency drills;
• Provide non-perishable medical supplies to stockpile
at targeted health centers as well as technical support to
Health Surveillance Assistants and teachers in Participatory
Vulnerability Assessments with the support of Village Civil
Protection Committees;
• Improve accessibility and facilities in flood prone
schools and support accessibility of Anti-Retro Viral drugs
in health centres during emergencies;
• Develop hazard monitoring and data collection stations,
standard training materials and user manual on Early Warning
Systems and dissemination;
• Provide technical and material support of early warning
and communication equipment and facilitate trial emergency
drills to communities and Village Civil Protection Committees;
• Develop project-specific lesson learned database
and documentation for disseminate to key disaster management
stakeholders.
For more information on ECHO projects please visit http://ec.europa.eu/echo/index_en.htm
The Humanitarian Aid department of the European Commission
funds relief operations for victims of natural disasters and
conflicts outside the European Union. Aid is channeled impartially,
straight to victims, regardless of their race, ethnic group,
religion, gender, age, nationality or political affiliation.
Irrigation in Malawi:
These irrigation projects move the farmers involved from harvesting less than they need to survive growing extra produce which they can sell: giving them a cash crop
for the first time in their lives.
( Listen to
GOALies describe the programmes in Africa)
Reliefweb Latest
Updates
Alertnet Latest
Updates |
