Malawi Launches Digital Hub to Track Health Commitments for Vulnerable
The hub is open to the public, media, and stakeholders to track government commitments and their implementation.
LILONGWE, Malawi— The Malawi government launched a Digital Advocacy Hub Thursday to monitor commitments for women's, children's and adolescents' health and well-being, writes Martin Kamlaike.
The Ministry of Health, supported by Amref Health Africa, unveiled the platform at the Bingu International Convention Center in Lilongwe.
Doreen Namagetsi Ali, Director of Reproductive Health Services, speaking on behalf of the Health Secretary, said the hub will track various international commitments.
"We have got different commitments that we committed at different avenues. The Family Planning 2030, The International Conference for Population and Development 2025," Ali said.
The digital platform aims to serve as a baseline for tracking the government's progress in implementing these commitments.
"It will help us to have the energy, and courage to be implementing more so that we achieve all the interventions that we have and objectives that we have put in place," Ali added.
Dr. Matthews Ngwale, chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Health, emphasized the importance of transparency.
"This initiative is very, very important. It is about making information available to everyone," Ngwale said, comparing the hub to the Access to Information act.
He lamented that the government often fails to implement signed health treaties or declarations, stating, "This hub is about collecting all the commitments that Malawi makes and put them at one space."
Ngwale assured Malawians that parliament will use the hub to ensure government accountability in implementing health commitments.
Hester Mkwinda Nyasulu from Amref Africa described the platform as a multi-stakeholder initiative crucial for collaborative efforts in women's, children's, and adolescent health.
"As Amref Africa, we're excited that we have supported the ministry of health to develop an advocacy hub, digital hub where we will be tracking all the commitments regarding women, children and adolescents," Nyasulu said.
The hub is open to the public, media, and stakeholders to track government commitments and their implementation.
Nyasulu urged media practitioners to utilize the platform to disseminate information about the government's progress on sexual and reproductive health services and rights.