Malawi Hosts 1st Bridge Africa Conference

Malawi Government has announced hosting of 1st Bridge Africa Conference beginning 17th February to 19th February in the capital, Lilongwe.

Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare, Patricia Kaliati announced this at a joint media briefing in Lilongwe held with Dong-Seok MIN, Secretary-General of the Korean National Commission for UNESCO (KNCU)

Kaliati said the conference will offer Malawi an opportunity of sharing experiences with other six African countries where Korean National Commission for UNESCO is working on similar projects being done in Malawi.

“We are going to share experiences with different countries; So we are going to share experience how to improve adult literacy in the country, how to eradicate extreme poverty that most of our people are experiencing now and also how to increase economic empowerment of our women in communicates where we are working with the Korean National Commission for the UNESCO.” Said Kaliati

Areas that KNCU is assisting Malawi includes: Mmera Mpoyamba (early childhood development); literacy education to women, adults and youth; help overcome absolute poverty through income generating training especially vocational training and skills youth, women and people with disability; and developing community ownership.

She also mentioned that the platform will also help the country to inform KNCU other needs that Malawi Government has in the Bridge Africa Programme including requesting KNCU to establish more Community Learning Centres across the country.

While thanking KNCU for number of projects it is doing in Malawi which the minister said are helping in poverty alleviation Kaliati further express gratitude to KNCU for the 19000 text books donated to Malawi which are assisting learners in various ways. 

In his remarks, Dong-Seok MIN said the upcoming conference organized by KCNU and the Malawi National Commission for UNESCO will bring meaningful contribution to the Bridge Africa Programme as partner countries will come together and share their experiences.

He said this 1st Bridge Africa Conference comes against the backdrop that through Bridge Africa Programme, the KNCU strives to serve as a reliable partner in the promotion of education in sub-Saharan Africa by sharing Korea’s experience and enhancing mutual understanding among nations.

“Education is a vital component in determining the future of a country. As such, in order to implement the Bridge Africa Programme successfully in reach of the countries in which it operates, it is equally vital that there is strong cooperation and solidarity among the government of each partner country, the National Commission for UNESCO in each partner country, and KCNU.

By enabling participants to share best practices applicable to their various local circumstances, the conference will facilitate South-South cooperation in the production of practical and incremental learning effects for all stakeholders in the Bridge Africa Programme.” said Dong-Seok MIN

Dong-Seok also highlighted that Bridge Africa Project, plays a role in promoting education and local development programmes including vocational and technical skills to enable people to earn income and become self reliant. 

He also assured that with funds donated by the Korean Ministry of Education and ordinary Korean citizens, the KNCU will continue its efforts to operate and improve the Bridge Africa Programme, which promotes field-level efforts to increase access to quality education in Africa.

Dong-Seok also indicated that after the conference, KCNU is expected to release Lilongwe Commitment.

Countries expected to participate are, South Africa, Lesotho, Rwanda, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe and Botswana as new comer in the programme.