December 6, 2011

Government says the effects of climate change are phenomenal and widespread in Malawi; hence the reason climate change was included as one of the priority areas on Government’s development agenda.

Launching the 2011 Human Development Report entitled Sustainability and Equity: A Better Future for All at Capital Hotel in Lilongwe on 22 November 2011,

Minister of Finance and Development Planning Dr. Ken Lipenga said it was undisputed fact that many development gains a country may attain can easily be lost because of climate change leaving more people in poverty.

“Climate Change is one of the biggest development challenges that countries including Malawi are facing. The effects of climate change are phenomenal and wide spread in our country starting from persistent droughts, flooding, erratic rains patterns  just to mention a few,”

“In light of the challenge to development posed by climate change, Government has included climate change as one of the key priority areas on its development agenda to safeguard the socio-economic gains that the country has achieved,” said Dr. Lipenga.

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November 16, 2011

Over 40 delegates including Government officials, members of the civil society and media were trained in Climate Change Diplomacy and Negotiation Skills to prepare them for the 17th Conference of Parties (COP- 17) slated for Durban, South Africa from 28 November to 9 December 2011.

The training which was conducted by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITRA) with support from UNDP took place at Pacific Hotel in Lilongwe.

In his opening remarks, UNDP Resident Representative Mr. Richard Dictus said Climate Change was universally recognised as one of the key challenges of the current generation. He said Climate Change poses threats to societies, especially in developing countries thereby hampering the achievement of the MDGs.

He said assistance to countries to mitigate and adapt to Climate Change was one of UNDP’s core global objectives. “We believe UNDP is strategically well positioned to assist countries like Malawi in dealing with climate change challenges because firstly,  following its global mandate in supporting countries with policy advisory support and capacity development, UNDP is playing a key role in assisting Malawi in developing and attaining its long term overall development objectives,”  he said.

The Resident Representative explained that UNDP had actively participated in the development of the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) II, the Disaster Risk Management Policy and the impending Climate Change Policy.

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 October 5, 2011

15-year-old Patricia Phiri from Nkhatabay district in northern region of Malawi lived a miserable life while with her maternal uncle.

An orphan, Patricia went through tough ordeals. But for the love of school, she persevered.

However, one fateful afternoon while coming from school, her uncle accused her of having an affair with a young man who was walking near her. He flogged her and told her to go and get married. He threw her out of his house.

When the Child Rights Committee heard of the ordeal, they intervened and got her shelter at her grandfather’s house.

Child Rights Committees are voluntary structures established by a UNDP supported project aimed at strengthening the Ministry of Gender, Child and Community Development through the Social Welfare offices across the country to address issues of Orphaned and Vulnerable Children (OVCs).

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