By Sellah Singini

Lilongwe, 16 April, Mana: Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, Simplex Chithyola Banda has described the Integrated National Financing Framework (INFF) as a transformational tool that will strengthen domestic resource mobilisation through smarter tax policies and anti_ corruption measures.

He made the remarks on Wednesday at Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe during a joint launch of the INFF and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Investor Map.

Chithyola Banda said, the INFF identifies bankable projects in sectors like agriculture, mining, tourism, manufacturing, health care and green technology, offering risk mitigated pipelines aligned with National development plans.

"We are going through fiscal challenges, running a deficit budget, with a big proportion of our development budget funded by our development partners,

“So INFF is our answer, it is a cohesive strategy to integrate and streamline domestic public and private financing into our national priorities” he said.

Chithyola Banda also said much as Malawi has a good number of policies that are not put into use, time has come for its implementation.

He therefore called upon ministries, government departments and agencies (MDAs) to take a leading role in integrating the INFF into their planning activities.

Speaking at the same function, Minister of Trade and Industry, Vitumbiko Mumba said, the SDG investor map is designed to provide investment opportunities in all sectors like agriculture, energy, mining, tourism and infrastructure,

He said these sectors are critical to the country’s sustainable growth, and speak to the ATM strategy that the president champions.

“Each of these certified sectors is not only a factor of achieving the SDGs, but also has a potential for driving economic growth and creating jobs,” He said.

United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator, Rebecca Adda _ Dontoh said there is need to put the private sector at the center of the domestic resource mobilization.

By Lesnat kenan

Lilongwe, April 16, Mana: Deputy Minister of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare, Halima Daud has said the National Children's Manifesto will provide children with an opportunity to advocate for their rights, well-being and protection.

She made the remarks during the launch of the National Children's Manifesto held at Crossroads Hotel in Lilogwe.

The deputy minister said the National Children's Manifesto is a powerful tool that empower children to advocate for their rights and hold decision makers accountable.

"The Ministry will ensure that children are protected from all forms of abuse and that they are able to participate in activities to shape their future" she said.

Daud said her Ministry is committed to ensuring that every child in Malawi has access to quality education, health and nutrition to align with the 2063 agenda.

In his remarks, World Vision Malawi Director of Operations, Charles Chimombo said the initiative is a milestone in the advancement of children's rights in Malawi.

He said World Vision believes that child participation is not optional but a right and appealed to all political parties to create space for children in all their activities.

"Children deserve to be heard in our political spaces and especially in political party manifestos", he said.

In her remarks, Speaker of the National Children's Parliament, Shekinah Galuwapananji, said the children's manifesto creates a great opportunity for children to voice out their issues.

She said the manifesto will promote children's participation in all sectors which will foster development for Malawi.

At the event, issues such as child protection, education, healthcare, nutrition, climate change and child participation were discussed.

By Andrew Phiri

Balaka, April 16, Mana: NGO Gender Coordination Network (NGO-GCN) on Tuesday drilled journalists in Balaka District on positive news reporting towards women representation in the September, 2025 general elections.

Speaking after a one-day workshop held in the district, member for NGO-GCN National Elections Systems Trust, Unandi Banda said there is underrepresentation of women in political positions in Malawi.

"Through the Political Empowerment of Women in Malawi project, we want to equip the media, particularly journalists in Balaka District on how to report on stories that will positively sharpen societal perception towards women involvement in politics.

"Media is a fourth estate of government and is very powerful, hence we wanted to provide an opportunity for reporters to familialize themselves with the programme we are implementing, so that together, we promote and strengthen women participation in the September, 2025 tripartite elections," Banda said.

A reporter from Lilanguka community radio station, Florence Chilanga hailed NGO-GCN for the training, observing that issues of gender and politics are sensitive and require proper reporting skills.

"We all have to support women who are aspiring for various political positions in the upcoming general elections, but to do that, we needed the expertise that we have gained today," she said.

The training brought together journalists from Malawi News Agency (Mana), Zodiak Broadcasting Station (ZBS), Times Group, Nation Publications Limited (NPL), Montfort Media, Balaka Police FM and Malawi 24, among others to discuss challenges that women face in politics and how the media should help in addressing them.

Funded by UN Women, NGO-GCN has been implementing a Political Empowerment of Women in Malawi project from October 2024 to September 2025 in Phalombe, Balaka, Ntchisi and Nkhata-Bay districts with ultimate goal of strengthening gender equality in politics.

By Sarah Phiri

Mzimba, April 15, Mana: Nutritionist for Mzimba District Health Office (DHO), Elizabeth Mkandawire has advised members of the District Nutrition Coordinating Committee (DNCC) in Mzimba to consider propagating messages of the importance of complementary feeding to Under Five children to avoid malnutrition in children.

Mkandawire made the plea in Mzimba on Tuesday during a two days’ orientation on Complementary Feeding Modules to DNCC organized by Feed the Children under Child Focused Community Development Program.

She emphasized the need for parents and caregivers to give nutritious complementary food in addition to breast milk as this prevents malnutrition in the babies.

“There are so many detrimental effects that come as a result of malnutrition such as stunted growth, weakened immune system and developmental delays. At the age of 6-23 months such effects can be easily avoided if the proper nutritious meals are given to the babies,” she said.

She stressed the need for parents to adopt ways of feeding babies’ food that can be mashed such as meat, fish, and vegetables.

“In communities, parents give babies under two years starch with broth only while grown-ups eat the relish. Some nutrients do not dissolve with water so the broth does not give the required nutrients found in the relish. Therefore, we are asking them to be mashing the relish so that the baby can start benefiting from the nutrients,” said Mkandawire.

Mkandawire also thanked Feed the Children for the initiative that once adopted it will help in cost avoidance to the hospitals.

“Treating malnutrition related effects is very expensive, as DHO we appreciate Feed the Children and other partners that are assisting government to ensure that the district should be malnutrition free as this saves money and resources that can be channelled to other things at our facilities,” she said.

Acting Principal HIV/Aids and Nutrition Officer for Mmbelwa District Council, Gift Simkonda hailed the training saying it came at the right time as the district strives to scale up effort to eliminate stunted growth, wasting and underweight in Children.

“Stunted growth in children stands at 36.9 in Mzimba, wasting is at 3.6 while underweight is at 6.9. So as players in nutrition we should work harder to ensure we completely do away with these for the healthy if our children in communities”, said Simkonda.

He appealed to all organisations working in nutrition to scale up interventions aimed at reversing stunted growth by engaging communities on the importance of normal breastfeeding and complementary feeding which he said are crucial for the growth of children.

Child Focused Community Development Program funded by Feed The Children is targeting 5000 households in Traditional Authority Mzikubola in Mzimba district.

By Damiano Thengo

Nkhotakota, April 15, Mana: United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has intensified the use of media theatre for change (Tfac) to reach out to vulnerable marginalized groups of women and girls with Obstetric fistula condition messages in order to improve their welfare in Nkhotakota.

Speaking during an engagement meeting with Vinthenga Community Radio Listening Club at Senior Group Village Headman Vinthenga in the area of Traditional Authority Malengachanzi in the district on Tuesday, UNFPA representative, Nelida Rodrigues, said the meeting was aimed at appreciating the way radio listening clubs are performing when it comes to disseminating Obstetric fistula condition messages.

Rodrigues encouraged radio listening club members and local leaders to work hand in hand to spread Obstetric Fistula messages and report suspected cases of the condition to the appropriate officials and authorities.

"I am impressed with how things are going on, and I hope this kind of addressing issues can help to change Malawi and improve the health of many.  I paid attention to the radio programme in which you were actively engaged, and it is really impressive, please! Let's continue to spread the message of Obstetric Fistula in our village and outside," said Rodrigues.

Nkhotakota District Health Promotion Officer, Garry Chilinga, asked Radio Listening Club members to continue preaching Fistula messages in various events happening in their locality.

He said once the construction of the fistula ward is completed at Nkhotakota District Hospital, they expect to receive more suspected women suffering from the disease.

Patricia Chitambaya, one of the members of the Vinthenga Community Radio Listening Club, commended UNFPA for considering the Tfac tool in conveying Fistula messages, saying that through radio drama and phone call programmes, people can learn effective strategies for handling women suspected to be suffering from the condition.

"Through radio programmes like drama and phone calls, we learnt and received messages concerning fistula, and we have also learnt that fistula cannot be cured by a traditional doctor, but it can be treated at the hospital,” she said.

Freedom from fistula, in collaboration with UNFPA, is implementing a three-year project called Bridging Hope: Empowering women with Obstetric fistula to ensure access to quality Obstetric fistula care and social reintegration in Nkhotakota district.

By Augustus Nkhwazi

Mzuzu, April 15, Mana: The Economic Planning and Development (EP&D) under Ministry of Finance (MoF) says it looks forward to creating a conducive monitoring and evaluation (M&E) environment for evidence based programming and policy decisions in the public sector.

Principal Economist at EP&D, Joseph Maliki made the remarks during a National Monitoring and Evaluation Policy (NMEP) dissemination meeting at Mzuzu City Chambers on Tuesday.

Maliki said the NMEP will bring about public trust and good governance in the public sector.

He noted that before the policy, a lot of uncoordinated system approaches existed among departments and created gaps which he said the policy seeks to bridge.

“Institutions were operating monitoring activities without guidelines and that created inconsistencies,” he said.

He added that the EP&D is scaling up efforts to have the M&E systems institutionalized in order to achieve improved public sector service delivery, accountability, and good governance.

Maliki told the meeting that previously Malawi did not have the policy hence developing it is critical to providing the necessary framework.

Speaking earlier, Chief Executive Officer (CEO)for Mzuzu City Council (MCC) Gomezgani Nyasulu applauded the Ministry of Finance for the policy saying it is vital for ensuring vibrant monitoring systems even for Mzuzu City.

He said national policies are important as they provide sanctions for monitoring systems.

“I like the sanctions included in the M&E which empowers my office to closely follow and assess contributions and respond to needs of the community,” he said.

He added that previously it was challenging to discipline project implementors over under-performance as there were no guidelines to base the discipline upon.

The CEO called upon council officials to make use of the policy for them to move forward with it’s development objectives.

He assured them that the delegation from EP&D that MCC will do it’s best to ensure consolidation of efforts by various  stakeholders such as the faith community, the private sector and Non- Governmental Organizations, among others.

The policy, developed in 2024, will run up to 2027.

It seeks to enable ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to continuously generate quality data to measure the level of achievement of development policies and programmes.

By Aliko Munde

Chitipa, April 15, Mana: Farmers and agriculture staff at Kameme Extension Planning Area (EPA) are excited after Chitipa District Council constructed an office under World Bank Funded Governance to Enable Service Delivery (GESD) project.

One community member, Doreen Mvula from Kameme 1 Village in the area of Senior Chief Kameme, said due to inadequate space at the old EPA office, they were conducting meetings under a tree, which she said was a challenge during the rainy season.

Mvula said the newly constructed K93 million office would help ease space challenges during meetings.

“We may just conclude that we did not have an EPA office because the one we had been using was in a dilapidated state and very small,” he said.

Concurring with Mvula, Charles Simkonda from Nang’ambi 2 Village in the area of Senior Chief Kameme, thanked the government for constructing the office saying it will go a long way in improving service delivery as the council will be compelled to send additional extension workers at the office.

“Our extension workers will also feel motivated to work in the district because of the conducive work place,” he said.

Agriculture Extension Development Coordinator (AEDC) for Kameme, Malizgani Lucky Chiselu, thanked the council for the construction of the EPA office, which he said will ease shortage of space for workers and even farmers.

“The new EPA building has four office rooms, two halls and will sometimes be used as stores for farm inputs and other things for our farmers. We have enough space that we will now work in a conducive environment,” Chiselu said.

He said the office has also a resource center where farmers will learn and broaden their knowledge on modern farming techniques on the internet.

Director of Planning and Development (DPD) for Chitipa District Council, Smith Mnenula, thanked government for decentralization, which he said has capacitated district councils and personnel with skills and knowledge.

“This EPA office was requested by the people of Kameme. We are glad that the project came from the community’s village action plans. We are excited that communities own the project,” he said.