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BANK REAFFIRMS ON MDG goal six.
Related to country: Malawi
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

BANK REAFFIRMS ON MDG goal six.

KONDWANI

The World Bank has reaffirmed its commitment to support African Countries including Malawi to halt and begin to reverse the effects on not paying particular attention to the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) number six.

MDG goal six spells the need to combat HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases. Specifically, it talks about halting and beginning to reverse the spread of the pandemic and other diseases.

The bank says it will move from its initial emergency response to the next phase, contributing to a long-term sustainable multi-partner response.

To that, the bank has provided US$1.5 billion (K210 Billion, at Malawi’s official exchange rate) for the diseases’ programme in over 30 countries and five sub-regional projects addressing cross-border issues through the Multi-country HIV and AIDS programme for Africa (MAP).

“ The Bank’s support has contributed to results in prevention, care and treatment, impact mitigation and system strengthening reaching millions through prevention education messages, enrolling women in preventing mother to child transmission, supporting vulnerable children and working to strengthen health, fiduciary, monitoring and evaluation systems and AIDS institutions,” says the bank in a statement.

The commitment from the Bank could not have come at an opportune time like this when the newly released 2007 UNAIDS epidemic update shows that AIDS seams to have reached its peak and death rates are failing – Africa continues to bear the greatest burden.
“We recognize HIV and AIDS is a serious development challenge and dilutes our poverty reduction efforts,” says Obiageli Ezekwesili, the bank’s vice president for Africa region.

“The bank is determined to remain engaged over the long-term, working within our comparative strengths.” More than three quarters (about 76 %) of all AIDS – related deaths in 2007 and 68% of global new infections occurred in Africa and women, about 61%, are living with virus.
The bank’s new agenda for action is the result of an intensive analytical and consultative process that engaged over 1000 people from over 30 African partner countries plus donors and UN agencies.
Countries were consulted at all levels, including community, faith based Organisation and civil society organizations, research institutes, universities and people living with the virus.

“The inputs of the stakeholders are reflected in the main messages of the agenda for action,” adds the statement.
“The agenda’s strategic objectives are explicitly linked to results and include: assisting national development agenda, accelerating implementation and closing the implementation gap between available funding, strengthening nation and health systems and improving donor coordination and knowledge generation and sharing knowledge generation and sharing.

To accelerate the implementation purposes, the Africa region’s agenda for action is organized around four pillars, reflecting the critical human institution and financial challenges for the next generation of support.

The global pandemic is not a conventional disease and Africa is not a conventional region, says Elizabeth Lule, the Manager of the bank’s African region AIDS programme.
She adds: “If you add to that the everyday reality that the national health systems are overwhelmed and that most government lack the fiscal space to cope with the often volatile and unpredictable funding of the programmes…. There is need for the bank’s continued active engagement in the region.”

Since the bank launched its emergency response, funding for the mitigation of the disease has grown dramatically from US$1.6 billion in 2001 to US$8.9 billion in 2007 mainly from the Global Fund to find AIDS, tuberculosis and Malaria and the US President’s Emergency Plan for the AIDS relief (PEPFAR).

“Nonetheless, financing gaps exits and estimates US$18 billion is required in 2007 alone mostly needed for sub-Sahara Africa,” says the statement.

By October 2007, the bank has provided US$1.5 billion for HIV and AIDS programmes in over 30 countries (Malawi inclusive) plus 29 multi-country programme for Africa (MAP) countries and 5 sub-regional projects to address cross-border issues. (The Guardian News Paper of December 08.07)

December 10, 2007 | 9:16 AM Comments  0 comments
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MALAWI MISSES FROM NEPAD E-SCHOOLS INITIATIVE.
Related to country: Malawi
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Malawi is not among the African countries whose primary and secondary schools will be equipped with International communication Technology (ICT) funded under the New Partnership for Africa’s Development electronic Schools (NEPAD e-schools) Initiative because of its poor ICT status.
The NEPAD school initiative was publicly launched in Durban at the Africa Summit of the World Economic. Forum on June 12, 2003 with the aim of imparting ICT skills to young Africans in primary and secondary schools as well as harness ICT technology to improve, enrich and expand education in African countries.
The NEPAD e-Schools initiative will over a 10 –years period develop all African primary and secondary schools so that they become NEPAD e-schools.
Deputy minister of Education , Science and Technology Olive Masanza said the ministry is not part of the NEPAD programme because of various problems but was quick to add that it was her ministry’s wish to catch up with NEPAD.
What the ministry has done, said Masanza, is to launch internet learning in 17 selected secondary schools.
The ministry has provided computers to such schools.
Minister of Information Patricia Kaliati said “Malawi cannot benefit from the ICT bodies because of the ICT policy.”
The country developed a National ICT for Development policy in 2006 but it is not yet implement.
“We are going to take it to the Cabinet. In fact, we are fighting against time. We cannot have ICT infrastructure without the policy in place,” Kaliati said,.
The countries invited to participate in the first phase of the NEPAD e-schools initiative are those which have acceded to the Memorandum of understanding of the NEPAD Africa Pear Review Mechanism (APRM).
These countries include Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameron, Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda.
According to NEPAD e-Schools initiative details, 600,000 schools will be involved.
The initiative seeks to provide ICT skills and knowledge to primary and secondary school students that will enable them to function in the emerging information society and knowledge economy.
It is also aims to provide teachers with ICT skills to enable them to use ICT tools to enhance teaching and learning. It also wants to provide schools managers with ICT skills so as to facilitate the efficient management and administration of the schools.
Before rolling out the initiative, NEPAD e-Africa Commission is conducting a demonstration in six Schools in each of the following participating countries: Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mauritius, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda.
Each school in the demonstration project is equipped with a computer laboratory containing at least 20 PCs as well as server and net working Infrastructure and peripherals such as scanners, whiteboards and printers,
“The Implementation of the Demo in the rest of participating countries will be completed by December 2007,” details say.
According to NEPAD documents Implementation of all activities are expected to converge into large –scale roll out in 2007/2008.

December 4, 2007 | 2:37 AM Comments  0 comments
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Muthalika lauches MGDS
Related to country: Malawi

President Bingu wa muthalika yesterday launched the country’s - wepon gainst poverty -the Malawian Growth Development Strategy (MGDS) - in Lilongwe.

But donors and other stakeholders saild while the five-year blue print has the capacity ro the Malawi out of poverty to prosperity, implemention remains the major challenge for the achievement of the achievemnet of the strategie’s objectives.

The MGDS- touted as a home grown stragy having been developed locally without donor influnce - suceeds paper the poverty Reduction strategy Paper which the Muthalika administration scrapped off lacking a business plan that recognises the private sector as the engine of ecomomic growth.

Speaking during the launch, Muthalika noited that the main objective of the MGDS is to attain an annual growth rate of at least six percent that experts say is ideal for a country like Malawi to meangfully reduce poverty.

“MGDS seeks to maintain a balance between economic and social sectors of the economy, by taking into consideration broad thematic areas such as sustainable economic growth; social development; social protection; infranstructure development and good governance.

“Its fundamental principle is to achieve poverty reduction through sustainable economic growth and development. Through this policy we are able to empower th epoor inour country to begin to benit from economic and social transformation,” said Muthalika.

The world Bank, Malawi’s key ally in the poverty fight, which represent the county’s development partners at the function, said now that government, it should concentrate on document, it should concetrate on implementation.

Speaking for the world Bank the Bretton Wood institution’s country economicst for Malawi, Khwima Nthera, also aurged the government to fare annual national budgets in line with the priorities the document has set.

“Malawians are aware of the progress made in the achievement of microeconomic stability and the potential gains that debt relief offers. The challenge noe is ensure that these translate into jobs, availability of clean water, effiecient and uninterrupted water supply, well- maintaijned roads, improved education and health services,” said Nthara.

Speaking on behalf of traditional leaders in the county, senior Chief Kaomba of Kasungu said traditonal leaders have hope in the MGDS because it strives to achieve the balsnce between investment in economic growth and the social sector.

“On our part, we shall lobby government to recallocate resources from non - priority areas such as general administration and economic services in our various communities.” said Kaomba.

He added: “Until such a time that the poorest of the poor in our villages can see a positive change in their lives, reducing poverty in our communities ramains an ending war. Our involvement in the fight, however, can made the difference,” he said.

Speaking on behalf of the private sector, Press Corporation Limited group Matthews Chikaonda hailed the stragy as an important tool for transforming the country and hoped that it would be implemented. He also urged government to cost all the programmes fully so that projects have enough funds to drive this economic agenda.

Kondwani Thindwa.

July 31, 2007 | 10:27 AM Comments  0 comments
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POOR BRIDGES
About this event: World Youth Congress 2005 - Scotland
Related to country: Malawi

During the rain seasons in Malawi most of the roads in the rural areas are not passerble and this resulted in many deaths especially pregnant mothers who are about to give birth. Rivers become not friendly at this time as it carries lot of waters from the up stream. Recently Malawi has just been hit by the floods especially in the southern part of the country whereby people their depend of farming and fishing. The floods has resulted in a number of water born diseases like Cholera, malaria and Typhoid fever just to mention a few. The roads are so poor that even a bridge being constructed in these roads they can not look good. The roads are of the most esential things which governments needs to look on. If we want to reduce maternal death we should also look the ways what couses the death so poor road network in Africa also contributed much greater on the maternal death. Like this small road above people used it to cross from one village to another and during the heavy rains these small sticks get soft and people can not use it, Young children can not cross to other side of the village where there is school at the end we see people suffer, lots of death and children not going to school. We need realy to mobilise ourselves to force our leaders to look onto these type of things.

Kondwani Thindwa (Malawi)

February 27, 2007 | 5:03 AM Comments  1 comments
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POVERTY IS STILL MORE IN MAMA AFRICA
About this event: World Youth Congress 2005 - Scotland
Related to country: Malawi

Malawi is one of the countries in Africa which has a high level of people living with HIV/AIDS. The number of people catching the deadly disease is increasing everyday though Churches, NGOs, the government are living stone unturn on sensetising its citizen on the dangers of the pandemic. The Malawi government has a number of institution which are working hand in hand with the international organasations in helping distributing the life prolonging drugs ARVS. But the questions in many mind of is that, Is this ARVs are really helping us. Through different reserch houses and radios we hear that these drugs only available in towns and to those people who can afford the first class drugs. Here it means these drugs are there but they are of different strength according to how one can afford. People in the tipical village will not be able to aford the drugs simply because they can not aford to buy it. We hear here and there that some ARVS are being distributed on free of charge but those are last grade I can that because the first grade of the drug is so expensive that most of us the Africans who living a life of less than a dollar we can not aford. Now what is the way forward for this. Should we live our government in spending money for the political gain or sourcing these life prolonging drugs to help those people in the rural areas to have the first class or grade drugs rather than these low grade drugs where at the end the live these people with lots of side effects. Now its the time to force or greedy governments in africa to help their people for better medicines, schools, food, shelter extra. We are moving towards the 2015 the end of the MDGs. The governments promised us for the better things mentioned above, But not many are yet fufiled these promises instead we have seen lots of wars, hunger, poor water sanitation, Manutritional children, poor education standard and many many more in human activities. A local Malawian child is found here playing in a tipical village where there is no school near by or hospital these people realy live by the grace of God.

Posted by Kondwani Thindwa Malawi

February 27, 2007 | 3:32 AM Comments  1 comments
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