The British High Commissioner to Malawi, Fiona Ritchie has said the Chevening scholarship is a great milestone towards improvement of Social Economic Transformation of the country to achieve the Malawi 2063 agenda.
Ritchie made the remarks during a commemoration of 40 years of Chevening scholars in Malawi and a send-off of some students going for Masters and PhD studies in the UK.
The High Commissioner said the Scholarship is a mark to a longtime relationship with Malawi and the UK and hence the Chevening scholarship will help to transform the national development and achieve the Malawi 2063 agenda in the future.
“I am glad that today marks 40 years of the Chevening scholarship in Malawi and this means a strong relationship between Malawi and the UK to improve education in the country and ensure there is an improved development in the future.
“The scholarship gives them a wide range of experience apart from subjects they will study and this will indeed add value towards the improvement of the country’s economy,” said Ritchie.
Ritchie: The Scholarship is a great milestone
Director for Quality Assurance in the Ministry of Education Science and Technology, Professor Golden Msilimba, Commended the UK for the scholarship saying the human capital development is pivotal to drive the economy of the country because the Malawi’s education was previously focused on theory than practical.
“However, with such scholarships offered is a huge mile to equip the students with a wide range of practical experience which will be important to the country’s development and achieve the Malawi 2063 agenda,” said Professor Msilimba.
One of the Scholars going in the UK to study Data Science for Global Agriculture Food and the Environment, William Banda said Malawi requires leaders with good exposure and his selection to the scholarship is a great benefit to the country.
Shortage of school materials continues to haunt some primary schools across the country as 1,600 learners at Nankhonde Primary School in Lilongwe have 19 desks only.
This was established during an Edukans stakeholder’s workshop at Golden Peacock Hotel in Lilongwe organized to check the progress of the School-Based Blended Education Mentorship Program (SBEMPro).
One of the teachers who attended the workshop, Edith Nyirenda-making her speech.
Highlighting some notable achievements and challenges, a teacher at Nankhonde Primary School, Edith Nyirenda, said despite positive impact of the mentorship programme, the school has also shortage of teachers and books, in addition to the desks.
“The situation is very difficult. However, we thank the mentorship programme by Edukans because it has assisted us improve our performance through teaching methodologies as well as leadership skills,” Nyirenda said, adding the school also has 16 teachers only.
He said despite these challenges, Nankhonde has managed to register 78 percent pass rate out of 77 learners who sat for standard eight exams, adding this is great improvement.
Teacher Education and Development Director, Dr Zizwa Msukuma-making his remarks during the workshop.
Director of Teacher Education and Development, Dr Zizwa Msukuma, said the programme implemented by Edukans has helped a lot in the improvement of learning outcomes, as it has proven in the recent national examinations results.
“We have noted improved performance of schools under the programme of Edukans. However, there are also challenges, especially shortage of teachers and learning materials and, as a ministry, we have taken note of that.
We have also set aside budget to recruit teachers in both primary and secondary schools to reduce the student-teacher ratio,” said Msukuma.
Edukans Country Director, Limbani Nsapato (standing)-clarifying a point during the workshop.
Country Director for Edukans, Dr Limbani Nsapato, said the mentorship programme has assisted to achieve results as seen in the improvement of the learning outcomes in both primary and secondary schools.
He said Edukans is implementing SBEMPro, with financial support from UNICEF, to improve learning outcomes in targeted districts like Dowa, Salima, Dedza, Mangochi, Machinga, Chiradzulu, Thyolo, Lilongwe and Nsanje.
Minister of Gender Children and Social welfare, Jean Sendeza, has hailed the Male involvement strategy saying it will help to provide direction and guidance on the implementation of male engagement initiatives in Malawi.
During the launch of the strategy at Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe on Wednesday, the Minister said among others, the strategy identifies key result areas which include harmful social norms, male participation in Gender Based Violence, HIV and Sexual Reproductive programmes.
“The strategy shall provide mechanisms on the policies and programmes and research and learning. These are very important focus areas that require more attention and improvement.
“We believe if well-coordinated and implemented, the strategy will significantly and sustainably contribute to the realization of gender equality in Malawi,” she said.
Sendeza: Men and boys have been left behind Pic. By Kondwani Magombo _ Mana
The Minister said Gender Based Violence (GBV) is one of the most widespread human rights abuses affecting individuals and communities everywhere.
She said GBV is a universal and complex phenomenon that poses a major public health problem and leads to the widespread violation of human rights particularly violence against women and girls, negatively affects women’s and girls’ well-being and prevent them from fully participating in socio-economic development of the country.
Sendeza said statistics show that as many as 34 percent of women aged 15-49 experience either sexual or physical abuse in their lifetime while 41 percent of girls are forced into marriages before the age of 18.
National Chairperson for Men for Gender Equality Now, Marcel Chisi said the launch of the male involvement strategy is a blueprint and a back up to activities in addressing Gender Based Violence in the country.
He said most men do not speak out and let alone condemn fellow men who perpetuate GBV issues in the communities.
“This strategy has a lot in store such as husband schools whereby boys will be taught the role of family relationships so as to prepare them in advance because the boys have been lagging behind for so long while girls are always nurtured at good age,” said Chisi.
UN Women head of programmes, Victor Maulidi said the strategy has come at a right time to spearhead awareness issues against Gender Based Violence.
Maulidi further asked the partners to reshape some issues in the communities that have been barriers to achieve the eradication of GBV in the country and ensure that the strategy is operationalized.
TB/HIV Programmes Officer for NTLEP, Henry Kanyerere announced this during an interview on Friday on the sidelines of a three-day media tour to appreciate efforts being undertaken to fight TB and Leprosy across the country.
He said NTLEP has intensified efforts in TB fight in hard-to-reach communities by engaging volunteers into community sputum collection from their areas to their nearest health centres as one way of bringing services close to people.
“We have established community sputum collection points in hard-to-reach areas as well as introduction of mobile vans to intensify the TB fight in areas like Nsanje District, among other areas.
“We have also come up with community diagnostic centres as well as treatment centres in most hard-to-reach areas to ensure that we bring TB and Leprosy services close to where people are,” said Kanyerere.
Senior Medical Officer responsible for TB at Rumphi District Hospital, Dr Alicy Khonje said TB fight is going on well and through initiatives such as community sputum collection points as well as screening they have managed to register 81 percent success rate.
“So far as of 2022 we registered about 78 patients and out of them we have a treatment success of 81 percent against the national figures of 90 percent. Therefore, looking at where we are coming from as a district, this is an achievement.
A TB patient receiving treatment right at home PIC Leonard Masauli MANA
“We have gene expert machine for screening TB which is small and takes time to produce results. We need at least a bigger machine to help us improve on case finding. We also need more treatment sites because we have only 12 which are not enough against a population of 450,000,” said Khonje.
District TB Officer for Karonga, Henry Nyirenda said the fight against TB in the district is on the right path and through various initiatives they have managed to reach 90 percent treatment success rate in 2022 which is far above the national target.
“In the first quarter of this year we have notified about 115 TB cases and we are so far around 87 percent success rate which also shows that by the end of the year we will also beat targets,” said Nyirenda.
Nyirenda hailed the coordination among various departments at the hospital as well as the support from NTLEP through a project called Southern Africa TB and Health System Support which he said is very instrumental behinds the TB fight in the district.
He said the project supports screening of TB in high-risk populations such as in mining, prisons and other high-density areas.
With the increased population in urban areas and towns across Malawi, construction demands by companies as well as individuals in both the suburbs and cities have enormously increased.
The development has increased the pressure for sand used for construction purposes, since concrete consists of 75% of sand.
After water, sand is said to be the most consumed natural resource in the world, and has come to a point where sand is now called “the new gold”.
According to the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), in 2022 alone, 50 billion tons of sand, enough to build a wall 27 metres wide and 27 metres high around planet Earth was used, making it the second most used resource worldwide after water.
Scientifically, sand is a provisioning ecosystem service and often extracted from aquatic environments such as rivers and lakes, and uncontrolled sand mining poses an underlying danger that could be so detrimental to the natural resources.
In Malawi, the resource is equally a hot business for individuals and local communities with trucks ferrying sand every day for construction.
Sand mining and livelihood
One of sand miners Francis Njobvu from Tikoliwe Village in Traditional Authority Mlonyeni in Mchinji, said for many years sand mining has been the sole business which has sustained him and his family.
Sand Mining along Tukoliwe River near Zambia-Mwami Border in Mchinji–PIC Leonard Masauli
He said through the business, he manages to buy food, clothes as well as other basic necessities at the household.
“I started doing the business of sand mining some time back. This is where I generate my income. In this business I am able to do everything at my house including buying food. We have received messages before from our Village Headman to stop mining sand in the Tukoliwe River, but the sand business is what I know most,” said Njobvu.
Another sand miner, Justina Banda concurred with Njobvu saying the high demand for construction in towns and cities has also boosted their business.
“I have managed to pay school fees for my children. On a good business day, I make as much as K50,000 (USD 50) per trip. Dangers of sand mining can be there but we are used to such business for many years,” said Banda
Impending danger
Environmental Activist Charles Bakolo said excessive sand mining has caused a serious depletion of sand in the streambed thereby deepening and enlarging river mouths and coastal inlets.
He said in 2023, Malawi has experienced flooding and some of the major contributing factors are sand mining.
“Sand mining from lakes and rivers and marine ecosystems, lead to significant environmental impacts, including coastal and river erosion, land use changes, air pollution, threat to freshwater and marine fishers and biodiversity.”
“Government of Malawi needs to enforce laws to regulate such malpractices as they pose a great threat to the environment. According to Malawi Mining laws and regulations, no one shall conduct any mining operations without acquiring a permit or license,” said Bakolo.
Another environmental expert, Daniel Jamu said sand mining is not regulated and monitored in Malawi despite its importance and rising demand for infrastructure development and is similar in other developing countries.
He said unregulated sand mining along the lake and rivers reduces the protection of shoreline infrastructure from storm surges resulting from strong winds such as mwera and cyclones.
“Sand mining disturbs critical ecosystems for aquatic habitats such as fish breeding areas and has consequences on its productivity. With increasing impacts of climate change, it is now time for government and local councils to start enforcing sand mining and environmental regulations,” said Jamu.
Jamu said the results of unenforceable laws have caused the rising levels of water in the lake hence a lot of damage on tourism infrastructures.
An environmentalist and president for Association for Environmental Journalists, Mathews Malata said globally, the demand for sand was over 50 billion tons per year across the world which is quite huge.
Construction has increased demand for sand–PIC Leonard Masauli
“However, sand mining has led to biodiversity impacts such as the fisheries sector which might also affect the breeding of fish. The practice has also led to land changes. In the districts like Nsanje we have seen changes in the way rivers flow which leads to flooding because of disturbances of the cliffs,” said Malata.
Malata urged the government to be serious on enforcement of laws guiding the sand mining practices, since sand is an important resource that is helping in terms of development and hence it needs to be regulated to save the natural resources.
Way forward
Ministry of Mines spokesperson Andrew Mkonda Banda said the Malawi’s mining Act of 2019 provides powers to councils to control and issue licenses to sand miners.
“We do carry awareness with councils as per the provision of the mining Act of 2019 to issue small licenses to sand miners. As a ministry we are not tolerating that sand mining should be happening without licenses because district councils were given that mandate,” he said.
According to the UN Environmental Report of 2019, despite the resource’ importance in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and tackling the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, sand is being used faster than it can be naturally replenished, making its responsible management crucial.
The report says if extraction, sourcing, use, and management remain largely ungoverned in many regions of the world, it will lead to numerous environmental and social consequences that have been largely overlooked.
Minister of Gender Community Development and Social Welfare, Jean Sendeza has cautioned perpetrators of Gender Based Violence (GBV) that the laws will not spare anyone found abusing women and children in the country.
The Minister made the remarks during a press briefing in Lilongwe on the sidelines of cases where a mob burnt hands of two girls aged 9 and 10 on allegation that they stole Maize at Matthias Village in Traditional Authority Mloro in Nsanje district, and a woman who was paraded naked in the streets in Kasungu.
The Minister said such acts against children and women are inhumane and cannot be entertained in the country and thanked the Malawi Police for acting so swiftly to arrest the perpetrators.
Sendeza said she is however saddened by the outcome of the court sentence regarding the two girls in Nsanje district, where the perpetrator has been fined K200,000 for the offence.
“Personally, as a Minister, I am not satisfied with the sentence where the suspect has been fined K200,000. I feel it is not enough. As a ministry, we are looking at the issue and the process and we might appeal.
“Let me plead with the courts to consider giving stiffer penalties to Gender-Based Violence perpetrators to deter other offenders. Furthermore, I would like to condemn an incident that occurred in Kasungu where a woman was paraded naked after being accused of snatching someone’s husband,” said Sendeza.
Sendeza, Called for stiffer punishments to GBV perpetrators PIC Leonard Masauli MANA
She said such behavior is an insult to modesty of a woman and cannot be condoned and blamed some women who are always in the forefront victimising fellow women instead of fighting their protection.
The Minister further asked Malawians willing to adopt children who were affected by cyclone to do so but following proper processes.
“The Ministry has noted several posts of children in social media calling for adoption. But I would like to make it clear that there are laws that guides such adoption process. We do not want that the children should suffer once they are adopted because they will be alone wherever they will stay,” said the Minister.
Chairperson for NGO Coalition on Child Rights in Malawi, Desmond Mhango echoed the sentiments by the Minister saying government should move in to ensure the perpetrators of children in Nsanje as well as those who stripped a woman and paraded her naked should be given stiffer penalties to deter other offenders.
“We look at the punishment as being too lenient and there must be a way to review the sentence and consider better punishment as the law is meant to deter the would-be offenders.
“Again, it is not our culture to parade a naked woman in the community to bring shame. We ask law enforcers to look at such cases and that justice is delivered,” said Mhango
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