Water, Sanitation and Hygiene The Biggest Challenge Facing Disabled Malawians

You can see how unhappy I am in the toilet, I have to crawl and it is really unhygienic. I know I am putting myself at risk of infection but what other options do I have?

People with physical disability in Malawi names water, sanitation and hygiene facilities as the most challenging things to access in their daily lives.

Anecdotal results from Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and Disability study done in Rumphi district in the northern part of Malawi by two English Universities and two Malawian universities, reveals that every single one of the participants in the study is facing at least one barrier, failure to access to good water, sanitation and hygiene facilities.

 

The study which focuses on kinds of barriers that people with disability are facing, involved 35 people with physical disability who each one of them was given a camera and asked to take five photos of the biggest challenges that they face in their day to day life.

"What emerged from those images was that many people took photos of sanitation and hygiene challenges and problems of accessing water" revealed Sian White, a Research Assistant from the Environmental Health Group- Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

She said participants weren't told in advance that it was a study on WASH and they ranked these problems as their biggest priority "And it was interesting how predominant these issues were" she added

"There is something that all of us can do to address this issue. I think as community members we need to be looking out for the different sanitation needs and the different water needs that other people in our communities might have. Listen to people with disability and ask them what their challenges are." White appealed

Sian White

As the final results from the study are yet to be known towards the end of the year, the project has already designed some simple low cost intervention to improve the situation through Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) which Sian White said have yielded quite a lot of positive response.

She said: "We have seen people with disabilities involved in designing their own toilets and sanitation facilities that best suit their own needs."

Among the proposed designs for the sanitation facilities includes; a simple stool or a chair with a hole which a person with disability can sit on while using the toilet and user friendly water sanitation facilities."So this is hopefully not one size fits all model." She added

She also mentioned that some communities in Rumphi have formed disability support groups of local savings and loan society where the proceeds finance the building of toilets for the people with disabilities.

Meanwhile the Chairperson for Lilongwe District Disability Forum, Mr. Juma Mkandawire also a Research Assistant in the project has emphasized that communities must wake up and begin to support people with disability by having in their homes or communities a water, sanitation and hygiene facilities that people with physical disability can find them user-friendly.

"We need to wake up, we must start to build toilets and sanitation facilities which are user friendly to people with disability so that they don't put their lives at risk when they use or try to access them" he said "The problem is huge in the country as the study has established. Because of poor structures, some disabled people have to crawl in toilet which is very unhygienic, in the process putting themselves at risk of infection"

Mkandawire however, has expressed hope that the study will go a long way in helping to address challenges being faced by people with disability.

On 7th October, through the project, both Sian and Mkandawire had a dissemination of the findings through photo exhibition of the preferred water and sanitation designs and other images taken by people with disability at Lilongwe Shopping Mall car park.

Sian said photos are much more engaging way of telling people stories, therefore, the exhibition was an act of finding for opportunity where people can walk past, think about these issues and stimulate interesting discussions. She also mentioned that they also engaged with policy makers and implementers in the WASH and disability sectors to see how these findings can influence their work.

It is expected that if the trials of the intervention achieve good results, the project will scale up across Malawi.

The WASH and Disability study began in 2014 and is expected to come to an end in mid 2016. It is collaboration between London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, WEDC, Mzuzu University and the Centre for Social Research and the University of Malawi. The study is being funded by Australian Aid and Federation for the Disabled People in Malawi is also among partners in the research.

Malawi Fans Promised To Have “The Lira Experience” Says Lira

The South African song bird Lira says her fans in Malawi should get ready for a memorable performance from her this Saturday night at Bingu International Conference Centre.

Lira lands in the country on Friday afternoon. He is coming to perform for the inaugural 'Blue Mingoli' music events platform of Standard Bank.

Global Fund Support To Save Millions Of Malawians-Mutharika

Global Fund gives Malawi US$378 million towards the fight of HIV, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

US$346 million is for HIV and TB while US$32 million is for the fight against malaria. 

After signing Partnership and Acknowledgement of Grants Agreement with the Executive Director of the Global Fund, Mark Dybul, at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe, President Peter Mutharika said the support will save millions of lives of people in the country.

There was excitement at Kamuzu palace when Malawi and Global Fund was signing Partnership and Acknowledgement of Grants Agreement 

The US$ 378 million support is the largest allocation that the Global Fund has made anywhere in the world and President Peter Mutharika said the support will save millions of lives of people.

Mutharika said there is need to strengthen tremendous gains made against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria because there is hope that Malawi can defeat also many other diseases that continue to afflict the country today. 

He said Government is committed to develop innovative ways of locally financing its HIV response and other health programs.

He also said his government has committed to pay US$30 million over a three-year period under the “Willingness to Pay”, towards the National Response to HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria. 

Minister of Finance, Goodall Gondwe, and Chairperson for Malawi Global Fund Coordinating Committee both assured Global Fund that strong measures are in place to ensure that the grant is used as outlined in the agreement.

The Executive Director of the Global Fund, Dr. Mark Dybul expressed hope that with Malawi will effectively and efficiently used the money because there is clear indication from its leadership in the fight of HIV, Malaria and Tuberculosis globally.

Earlier, making goodwill messages, USA ambassador Virginia Parmer said this grant will help to drastically reduce HIV spread in Malawi and create a free HIV Generation.

While Ambassador Marchel Gerrmann Head of EU Delegation said the new agreement is a valuable contribution to Malawi which is facing at the moment economic problems.

But, UN HIV Director, Michael Sidibe, in a video clip said Malawi s making headways globally in the fight against HIV citing its commitment by adopting the Option B+ and Vision 909090.

In the three year agreement Malawi is expected to receive US$616 million to be divided between ActionAid, World Vision and Ministry of Health.

Government of Flanders Promise To Work With Malawi On Agriculture, Food Security

Mutharika and Koen Verlaeckt

Government of Flanders says will continue to support Malawi Government through its bilateral relations in areas of agriculture and food security.

Koen Verlaeckt, Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs in Flanders, pledged the support during his meeting with the Malawi President Professor Peter Mutharika at Kamuzu Palace in the capital city Lilongwe.

"Government of Flanders in terms of development cooperation, wants to be a reliable and predictable partner. On that we have committed ourselves for the 2014 to 2018 period for a total budget of €25 million (Euros) for bilateral cooperation with Malawi in thematic areas focusing on the Agriculture and food security which is the main challenge for this country right now" said Verlaeckt

Verlaeckt said is in Malawi for biannual consultation on State of Play on the execution of the Country Strategy Paper. He also said during consultation meetings with Malawi Government he found that projects being initiated by his government are on track. 

But he also hinted that, during encounter with Malawi president, he made emphasis on the importance of good governance and transparency which the president raised weeks ago during address at the United Nations General Assembly. 

“I had opportunity to point out to President Mutharika on the importance of good governance and accountability but this is one of the priorities which your president has raised during his address to the UN General Assembly.

"And secondly what for us is also very important is impact. The funding we are providing to Malawi for agriculture cooperation and food security, we really should make sure that the money which goes to Malawi really benefits the smallholder farmers and make sure that that happens. We need to refine a little bit some kind of activities which we are deploying for the moment" added Verlaeckt

In his remarks, President Mutharika commended Government of Flanders for its commitment in improving the livelihoods of Malawian people through implementation of projects and programmes in different sectors, including agriculture, in promoting agricultural extensions, under National SWAP Project, which is currently confined to two districts of Kasungu and Mzimba.

“It is pleasing to note that Flanders is a leading donor in agricultural extension services within the Sector-Wide Approach (SWAP) for Agriculture and Food Security. This programme is mainly concentrating on commercial agriculture, the processing of agricultural products and market development, among others.” Noted Mutharika

He informed the Flanders Secretary General that Malawi Government believes that agriculture is a key to enhancing food security, economic growth and wealth creation. But he said the sector, however, faces a number of challenges, including over dependence on rain-fed farming although the country is endowed with vast water resources like Lake Malawi and Shire River. 

“To address this challenge, and in order to also achieve self-sufficiency, my Government has commenced large scale irrigation farming through a project which we call the Green Belt Initiative. The central idea is to utilize water from the lakes and the perennial rivers to enhance the country’s food and commercial crop production throughout the year.  

Secretary General, May I take this opportunity to request the Flemish Government to consider supporting Malawi in the implementation of this important project? This project will significantly boost Malawi’s food security and economic growth.” appealed Mutharika

President Mutharika also expressed profound appreciation to the Government of Flanders for the timely humanitarian assistance which was provided to the Government of Malawi towards the devastating floods that affected 15 districts in Malawi. 

"I am also hopeful that the Flemish Government will assist us in our post disaster reconstruction and recovery phase, which is still posing challenges." He added

The bilateral relations between Government of Malawi and Government Flanders got established in 2007.

Mutharika Urges African Universities To Produce Super Qualified Scientists

Mutharika

President Professor Peter Mutharika has urged African Universities to produce highly qualified individy who can bring bright solutions to the continent that can make it one of the worlds robust economy.

President Mutharika was speaking this Wednesday at Kamuzu Palace in the capital city Lilongwe where he was officially opening a Ministerial Consultative meeting on Strengthening Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation in Africa for Regional Universities Forum (RUFORUM).

In his remarks President Mutharika underlined that Africa must improve its capacity to make use of science and technology to enhance food production and its own competitiveness in the global marketplace.

“Science, technology and innovation (STI) is underpinned by the generation and use of knowledge through research, which itself requires the availability of a ‘cadre’ of highly trained science professionals.

“It is the role of universities to train the future workforce for the continent, to undertake research and to ensure that generated knowledge makes an impact on African societies.” He said

“Education and particularly higher education is a critical mechanism for creating a cadre of professionals to undertake and oversee research that would create the knowledge base for technological innovation. Our universities must produce graduates with High level skills which are essential to deliver the vision of African leaders through the Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA) and the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) to diversify African economies through creating new economic growth sectors with higher value added.” He emphasised  

However, president Mutharika noted that there are number of critical challenges Africa’s Higher Education sector is facing that includes; low quality of education, inadequate number of qualified staff at PhD level, infrastructure, outdated curriculum and  pedagogies, and inadequate funding which are further exacerbated by the high demand for access to higher education.

He therefore asked African Governments to commit to national and regional investments in Higher Education, Science and Technology, Commitment to establish an ‘African university ranking system’ that recognizes the specific need for Higher Education in Agriculture and other fields and making it easy for academia to travel across the continent.

“On its part, the Malawi Government will continue to put emphasis on higher education as set out in the National Education Sector Plan (2008-2017), and the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MDGS II). The goals and objectives relate to expanded equitable access to education; improved quality and relevance of education; and improved governance and management.” He said

Speaking before the president officially opened the meeting the Ugandan Minister of Higher Education, Sandy Stevens Tickodri-Togboa, emphasised that it Science and Technology that can help African countries to develop

“Your Excellency, it is important that we support the creation of critical mass of engineers, scientists and others in that related field. Without that support things will not work.” He said

“We are therefore inviting you, Your Excellency, to spearhead that support especially of returning the scientists that we have produced, this is because the challenge we are having now is that due to poor facilities, when we train these scientist they hardly stay in Africa” said the minister who assured President Mutharika that RUFORUM academia and Professors will support president Mutharika’s endeavours that intend to promote education in Africa.

The Consultative Ministerial Meeting on Higher Education, Science and Technology began on Tuesday 20th October and is expected to end on Wednesday 21st October, 2015 at Bingu International Conference Center in Lilongwe.

The contents from the discussions which academia and vice chancellors from African Universities will produce will feed into the next week meeting for Higher Education Ministers expected in Ethiopia. RUFORUM is a network of 55 universities in the continent

China Bringing Huge Investments, Grants To Malawi

Malawi is again to benefit from bilateral relation with Government of Peoples Republic of China following seven Investment projects to be carried out soon and number of grants worth of Millions.

President Professor Peter Mutharika disclosed during the news conference on Wednesday at Kamuzu Palace in Lilongwe that China is bringing investment to Malawi following his recent meeting with the Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of China, His Excellency Mr. Li Keqian, on 10^thSeptember this year, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum that was held in the beautiful city of Dalian.

CSO, Govt Forum Necessary- Activists

Civil Society leaders have asked Malawi Government to create a platform where CSO’s can discuss with gverrnment on regular intervals and at length.

The call was made Tuesday afternoon during the meeting between Ministers and CSOs following the recent CSO statement which called for President Mutharika resignation.

Although the meeting had seen almost none of the CSO leaders that signed the letter turn up for the meeting, CSOs who never issued the statement made a very significant contributions which one of them is to call government to make a platform which serves to engage with CSOs regularly.

Undule Mwakasungula

“We need to create a forum where we can frequently be frequently meet government as civil society” said A renowned Activist Undule who said this will help to minimize the tension that are there

“These issues are arising because there is no forum where these issues can  be discussed on frequent basis. Let civil society be involved in implementation and not just briefed on the matterss.” He said 

Mathews Matewere Vice Chairperson For Council for Non Governmental Organisation who thanked the Government for bringing the CSOs-Government diaolgue meeting also emphasised that it should not a one day off event

“We are a family with different opinions but we are on the side of Civil Society. But as CONGOMA we will try our best to bring everybody on board and also to timely be responding to issues that matter to the people. We thank government for the dialogue meeting and this is a way to go”

Minister of Information said it has taken note of all comments and observations “Be assured that government will do whatever it takes to address some of those” he said 

Bright Kampaundi

Later, speaking to Bright Kampaundi one and the only CSO leader who signed the recent letter also echoed what other CSO's had said before the end of the meeting that the dialogue was a way to go but a platform which will help to update CSOs to know what is happening in number of areas, is supposed to be created.