THE CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS (CSOS) JOINT ADVOCACY AGAINST PERSONS WITH ALBINISM KILLING IN MALAWI (CSO-JAAAKM),
Press Statement
AGAINST THE KILLING OF PERSON WITH ALBINISM IN MALAWI
Exactly one year after State President of Republic of Malawi Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika issued press statements and made commitments to protect persons with albinism in Malawi, CSO-JAAAKM is saddened by the increase in continued attacks of persons with albinism in the country.
The network has been heartbroken by the news of a recent be heading of a 9 year-old boy with albinism Harry Mokoshoni, from Moto village Traditional Authority Nkoola in Machinga. This is a painful and avoidable loss of an innocent life to the family and to the nation. The boy went missing on the night of Friday 26 February, 2016 and after a gang of men forcibly broke into their house and abducted him. His mother was injured in the process of trying to defend the child.
It is sad that People with albinism are being treated as second class citizen and experiencing increasing discrimination as a result of their condition. Those who survive an attack are affected severely and facing a constant threat of more psychological torture due to lack of safety mechanism in communities and national level. Those in school withdraw due to fear as a result they are unlikely to get educated and obviously, this has an economic consequence. These multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination are evidence of a vicious cycle of the challenging life that persons with albinism are facing in Malawi.
The Association of Persons with Albinism in Malawi (APAM) has registered over 50 various forms of attacks against persons with albinism from December 2014-March 2016 with 11 deaths cases of which 64% of the deaths are women and children. These attacks were also confirmed in a research by Disabled Women in Africa in 2015 on assessing the impact of persons with albinism killing in Malawi. It is noted that the number of on-going attacks may be higher than those reported, but data-gathering is difficult due to the sensitive nature of the subject that is veiled in secretive practices of witchcraft which makes it difficult to properly investigate the cases
CSO-JAAAKM is worried that the population of persons with albinism currently estimated at 10,000 in Malawi might come to extinction as a result of increased attacks.
People with albinism in Malawi were hopeful with the political statements and ministerial position of putting in place a national response strategy. However, CSO-JAAAKM has observed that although there is political will, this is not being translated into action. The government has not taken full administrative and legislative measures to end the killing and abductions. This is a clear indication of collective failure to guarantee the right to life for people with albinism.
CSO-JAAAKM, a grouping of Civil Society Organisations therefore calls upon
State:
- Urgently take administrative and legislative measures to ensure maximum protection and enjoyment of right to life of persons with albinism in the country.
- To ensure that the Government’s action plan of 2015 on the response to the killings and abduction of persons with albinism is fully implemented without further delay.
- To review and amend the Disability Act to include a provision on persons with Albinism.
The stakeholders
- CSO’s to take a firm action on civic education to the general public on human rights issues and mainstreaming effective measures to protect persons with albinism within their existing programs.
- International cooperation in the investigations to effectively speed up and facilitate access to justice on Killings of persons with Albinism.
We, CSO-JAAAKM, would like to reaffirm that, Persons with Albinism are all citizens of this country and should not live in fear of losing their life or body parts because of social status and skin condition due to myths. We condemn the attacks on person with albinism as evil and a threat to basic human right enshrined in the Republican Constitution of Malawi. We urge the government to respect article 10 (the right to life), article 16 (freedom from exploitation, Violence and Abuse) and article 13 (access to justice) as provided in the UN convention Rights of persons with disability (UNCRPD) which Malawi signed.
We express our solidarity and extend our condolences to the family and close friends affected by the killing and abductions. Finally, we call for a local and international community support and immediate denounce of the Killing and abductions of persons with albinism in Malawi and demand for justice.
Amon Lukhele
CHAIRPERSON-CSO-JAAAKM
Ruth Mkutumula
CountryDirector,
DISABLED WOMEN IN AFRICA
“This document was produced with funding from the Disability Rights Fund. Statements of fact and opinion in the present report are those of the respective authors and contributors and not of the Disability Rights Fund. DRF does not make any representation, express or implied, in respect of the accuracy of the material in this “report/document” and cannot accept any legal responsibility or liability for any conclusions, assumptions, errors or omissions that may be made.”
Projects done by Outreach Scout Foundation-OSF
- Held Universal Coverage Day funded by Global Health Strategies and UHC Coalition
- Water Sanitation and Nutrition security funded by Canada Government under High Commissioner Fund
- Youth participation on Political Governance during elections funded by Forum for Dialogue and Peace under Germany Government fund
- Environmental protection against women who brew beers using tyre burning supported Global Health Fellows
- Economic Women empowerment in Agriculture funded by Royal Norwegian Embassy/NGO Gender Coordination Network programme
- ICT support from the World Bank
- IN HER SHOES funded by Raising Voices Uganda
- GBV Prevention Network for Awareness raising for gender based violence
SMALL SCALE MINERS Local men and women who are small scale miners.The organisation linking international buyers to local miners in Malawi. In rural Lilongwe stones are being mined in Traditional Authority Mazengera in notable villages like Mzingwa,Mphaza,Chinkhuzi,Ndiwo,Makwenda and Ntonda. Outreach Scout Foundation , as a local NGO,working in areas of women empowerment,human rights,food security,rural development,sanitation and hygine,youth and health is targeting such villages.Some women find stones as they are doing farming in their gardens. They just wash such precious stones and sell to buyers who come in the villages. Some women go in the nearby places like Lilongwe river,Nathenje river and Nanjiri stream. In these places they sieve sand from precious stones using old clothes and sometimes old mosquito nets. Some people do mining by digging in the ground beyond several meters.The women are so grateful to Outreach Scout Foundation coming to the village teaching them the importance of doing small scale mining and providing them with stable markets for their stones. Women are empowered greatly. Most women are able to pay school fees for their children, buy salts, sugar and medicines. Some they have even stopped doing tobacco farming and resort to small scale mining.The stones that these women and men do mine are red garnets, pyropes, quamarines, spessartites, rhodolites and green tourmalines.
Local men and women who are small scale miners.
The organisation linking international buyers to local miners in Malawi.
In rural Lilongwe stones are being mined in Traditional Authority Mazengera in notable villages like Mzingwa,Mphaza,Chinkhuzi,Ndiwo,Makwenda and Ntonda. Outreach Scout Foundation , as a local NGO,working in areas of women empowerment,human rights,food security,rural development,sanitation and hygine,youth and health is targeting such villages.
Some women find stones as they are doing farming in their gardens. They just wash such precious stones and sell to buyers who come in the villages. Some women go in the nearby places like Lilongwe river,Nathenje river and Nanjiri stream. In these places they sieve sand from precious stones using old clothes and sometimes old mosquito nets. Some people do mining by digging in the ground beyond several meters.
The women are so grateful to Outreach Scout Foundation coming to the village teaching them the importance of doing small scale mining and providing them with stable markets for their stones. Women are empowered greatly. Most women are able to pay school fees for their children, buy salts, sugar and medicines. Some they have even stopped doing tobacco farming and resort to small scale mining.
The stones that these women and men do mine are red garnets, pyropes, quamarines, spessartites, rhodolites and green tourmalines.
AGYW need to involved in designing, planning, implementation and monitoring of the Community Action Plans, District Implementation Plans, National Community Health Strategy 2017-2022, Malawi Growth and Development Development Strategy III 2017-2022, Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (Number 3 on Good health, Number 10 Reducing Inequalities, Number 5 on Gender Equality).
Women Economic Empowerment Fund is failing to kick start in Malawi because of fear on how to manage the funds.
History is a great teacher that many government initiated programmes to fund the poor fails to yield great results because of appeasement policy in managing and distribution of such funds.
Political influence in managing public funds is another disease and the poor become more poorer while the few rich people strengthening their powers every year.
If Malawi would like to empower women and girls in rural masses, government must implement the economic empowerment fund to transform the ultra-poor communities and enhance the capacities of middle income cadres.
AFRODAD 2019 CSO Policy Advocacy and Monitoring Capacity Building Workshop, - “The role of the CSOs in in Strengthening Public Service Provision through Monitoring Financing for Development”.
Privatisation of Education and Health Services in Southern Africa
Findings from a research study of selected Southern African Countries 2017 (Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, South Africa, Namibia, DRC, Zambia and Zimbabwe)
Executive Summary
The research report provides findings and recommendations on the impacts of privatisation in Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, South Africa, Namibia, DRC, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Privatisation and its policy prescriptions were embraced in SADC and other African countries in the early 1980s and 1990s largely as conditionalities for accessing balance of payments under the Economic Structural Adjustment programme (ESAP) and has been on a rising trend as private sector spending and investment in the health and education sectors is increasing Private actors have taken over the role of governments in providing these two essential services. Non-state provision (NSP) of education and health is delivered by a combination of Non-Governmental, faith-based, philanthropic and community organisations, as well as private providers. The NSP of education and health takes a myriad of forms including: low-fee private schools, hospitals and clinics; for-profit private schools and health centres; community schools, educational and health public-private partnerships, private tutoring; and religious based institutions in schools and hospitals. In modern statecraft, there is a trend to establish more private institutions as opposed to the traditional practice where central governments took responsibility for providing education and health care. The main drivers for this shift is contained within a neo-liberal agenda and a discourse of State failure. Central to the neo-liberal argument for greater engagement of the private sector in education and health are arguments of increased effectiveness, efficiency, competition and choice that altogether are alleged to drive better quality learning and health outcomes.
As a country we can do better by providing water that can not cause water born diseases to communities. The picture shows problem of access to potable water despite Malawi records indicates 71% population do access water in Malawi.
Government must do more through various development funds and OSF expect that such communities will benefit from Provisional budget especially development expenditure of MK116.5 billion.
OSF also trust that OSF and other CSOs will be supported to compliment government efforts to intensify efforts towards reducing potable water access.
OSF trust that development partners will surely support MK98.7 billion.
Malawi government must increase its seriousness by increasing domestic finance from Mk17. 9 billion beyond MK98.7 billion.
The increase of budget towards development will help to achieve MGDS III 2017-2022 and SDG number 6 on clean water and sanitation, goal number 3 on good health and wellbeing and this will help to achieve goal number 10 on Reduced inequalities by 2030.