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Making a difference in Malawi
19/01/2009
Scottish non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating in Malawi are to receive more than £1 million of international development funding from the Scottish Government to continue their work.
Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture Linda Fabiani announced a further £1,084,035 from the International Development Fund to support nine projects which address issues such as improving healthcare provision (particularly maternal and neonatal health), access to education for excluded groups, and sustainable livelihoods.
This latest round of Scottish Government funding for Malawi has identified and funded projects that deal with the priority areas agreed between the Scottish and Malawian Governments. All funding goes direct to established NGOs in Scotland that are already working with partners in Malawi.
Linda Fabiani said:
"We are enabling Scottish organisations in Malawi to further develop programmes which address the specific priority areas we have agreed with the Malawian Government.
"With some of the highest rates of maternal and neonatal mortality in the world, the situation in Malawi is desperate. Many of the programmes we are supporting in this funding round are working to help address these issues and make a real difference to ordinary people.
"The value to the people of Malawi of these projects cannot be overestimated. Scottish NGOs are helping the most vulnerable members of Malawian society.
"Rightly, there is cross-party support in the Scottish Parliament for our International Development Fund. There is a dedication to maintaining and developing our special relationship with Malawi and ensuring the valuable work of Scottish NGOs continues."
Tearfund is one of the organisations whose projects are benefitting from Scottish Government support in this funding round. The project will work with local communities to create opportunities for girls to access education and employment, and to reduce cultural and religious practices which disadvantage girls.
Speaking about the work supported by the Scottish Government, Pete Chirnside, Tearfund National Manager, said:
"With funding from the Scottish Government, Tearfund has supported Chisomo in Malawi to help rescue children from the dangers of living on the streets. They have been able to arrange for children, where possible, to safely return home, arrange for them to go to school, and assist them into small employment schemes.
"The support and assistance we have received exceeds my expectation of what it meant to receive funding from the Scottish Government. We are grateful for their support, networking and encouragement, which have helped to make this work in Malawi so successful."
Overview of programmes being supported:
- University of Stirling: to provide business and technical training to encourage and enable entrepreneurship in aquaculture, contributing to food security and sustainable livelihoods.
- Church of Scotland World Mission: to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality, focussing on training of health workers to speed up the referral process
- University of Strathclyde: to build on an existing project to establish a maternal health and safe motherhood programme, with the aims of decreasing maternal mortality and helping women access health services
- Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics Scotland: aiming to reduce maternal mortality via training in emergency obstetric skills for health professionals, including one-day seminars in rural areas
- Christian Blind Mission: training eye care workers to train colleagues, helping to build sustainable eye care services
- Adam Smith College (consortium of 10 colleges): training for Malawian college staff to identify/deliver skills-based training
- The Healthy Lifestyle Project (through Coatbridge High School): Scottish teachers and health professionals to assist their Malawian partners to motivate and empower girls to access and successfully complete their education
- Sense Scotland: supporting and promoting best practice in education of deaf and blind children to increase the number accessing education, and the number of courses available
- Tearfund: working to empower girls to protect themselves against abuse and exploitation.
According to the Department for International Development (DFID) /World Health report, in Malawi, 807 per 100,000 women die during childbirth(compared to 11 per 100,000 in UK) and 133 per 1,000 children die before age 5 (6 per 1,000 in UK). Source: Department for International Development (DFID)/World Health report:
The Scottish Government has doubled the International Development Fund to £6 million, providing support to many of the poorest countries in the world.
A minimum of £3 million per year is ring-fenced from within this allocation for our engagement with Malawi. Today's announcement takes funding for Malawi in 2008-09 to £4,239,734
The priorities for Malawi, agreed between the Scottish and Malawi Governments are: Education, Health, Sustainable Economic Development, and Civic Governance and Society