District official praises NGOs for development projects
Chiradzulu District Commissioner Francis Matewere urged the NGOs to extend their projects to ensure sustainability and reach more communities.
BLANTYRE, Malawi — A Malawi district official on Saturday commended World Vision International and other nongovernmental organizations operating in Chiradzulu for projects improving people’s lives, writes Steven Godfrey Mkweteza.
Chiradzulu District Commissioner Francis Matewere urged the NGOs to extend their projects to ensure sustainability and reach more communities.
He spoke during stakeholder meetings in Blantyre.
Matewere said 2023 saw great transformation in people's livelihoods in the district because of NGO activities.
“Government is overstretched with some other projects, therefore, nongovernmental organizations have done a commendable job this year to complement government activities,” he said.
Matewere cited significant reductions in child marriages, school dropouts, malnutrition, health complications, food insecurity and water and sanitation issues due to NGO projects.
“Just in one traditional authority, over 35 child marriages have been terminated and the children returned to school, with full support,” he said.
However, Matewere expressed disappointment that some parents still arranged child marriages.
World Vision International Malawi director of operations Charles Chimombo described child marriage as very complicated, saying driving factors like illiteracy, poverty and cultural norms must be addressed for progress.
“This issue calls for a multisectoral approach. Some beneficiaries return to marriages due to lack of support at school or in their communities,” Chimombo said.
He added insufficient donor funding and emergencies like cholera outbreaks and cyclones impacted operations this year.
The stakeholders meeting was held to review World Vision Malawi’s 2023 performance.
The Christian NGO has worked for years in Malawi on health, agriculture, water, sanitation, education and child protection.