Stories and News

Following the effects of Tropical Cyclone Freddy (TCF), a total of 13, 099 households (approximately 58,946 people) have been affected, out of which 4,305 (approximately 19, 371 people) have been displaced, with 57 camps set to accommodate the displaced. 190 prople have died with 584 injured and 37 reported missing. TCF has affected 12 councils namely; Blantyre City, Blantyre District, Chikwawa, Chiradzulu, Machinga, Mulanje, Neno, Nsanje, Phalombe, Thyolo, Zomba City and Zomba District.

As His Execellency the State President of Malawi will be opening the 50th session of Parliament of Malawi today, Habitat for Humanity Malawi expects to hear housing solutions the government has for the homeless, vulnerable families and for those who live in slums. We also expect to see government commitments towards finalization and enactment of the Disaster Risk Management Bill which when enacted into law will increase resilience of our country towards disasters, a state which will potentially reduce the houses affected by Disasters. #SONA Malawi University Of Science and Technology Catholic Development Commission in Malawi-Lilongwe Civil Society Network on Climate Change – Cisonecc Jesuit Centre for Ecology and Development Malawi Red Cross Society – MRCS Malawi National Youth Network on Climate Change – NYNCC Council For Non Governmental Organisations In Malawi

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY MALAWI PROMOTES SAFEGUARDING CULTURE “It is an encouragement to all staff to live into safeguarding culture and to pursue it as a long-term intervention that needs ownership by all. This means incorporating safeguarding in all processes including procurement of assets and services – being able to link safeguarding to Habitat’s vision, mission and values and holding each other to account for our action. For Habitat for Humanity Malawi, safeguarding is considered important hence the appointment of two dedicated focal points and Senior management commitment to support all processes of safeguarding both internal and external.” Remarks made by the National Director during a safeguarding training for staff members. If u suspect, hear or see something, speak out!

Habitat for Humanity Malawi in collaboration with the Department of Housing under the Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development organized a preliminary review meeting of the Safer Housing Construction Guidelines handbook. The review was planned to resolve emerging issues that need to be incorporated into the guidelines to strengthen and make them more effective to meet the current Housing needs in the country. The meeting was from 7th to 8th February and was attended by stakeholders from different government and non governmental institutions such as Ministry of Lands Housing and Urban Development, Lilongwe District Council, Technical, Entrepreneurial and Vocational Education and Training Authority (TEVETA), Malawi Institute of Architects, Namitete Technical College, Lilongwe Department of Buildings, Malawi Red Cross Society, Catholic Relief Services. The Ministry is expected to conduct a comprehensive review of the handbook and the output of this meeting will feed into further review. Malawi Red Cross Society – MRCS Ministry of Lands Housing and Urban Development Catholic Development Commission in Malawi-Lilongwe

Dear Habitat for Humanity Malawi Community, Happy new year to you all! We at Habitat for Humanity in Malawi look to 2023 with eagerness and excitement, our eyes focused on building communities where everyone has a decent place to live. Yet, the year’s end also invites moments of reflection and a look back on all we have accomplished together over the past twelve months. To you—Habitat for Humanity International – Headquarters, Africa Area Office, shared services based in the EME, our US Affiliates, Tithers, Donors, Board Members, members of staff and our all-important community partners, and to those of you who support the work of Habitat for Humanity in Malawi, each of you is an essential part of the on-going ministry work. In 2022, Habitat for Humanity Malawi supported 282 families with new homes. When disasters struck, we supported 670 families with Emergency Shelter Kits (ESKs) and Non-Food Items (NFIs). We have also drilled 31 water points and constructed 167 sanitary facilities. We have reached out to 22,902 people with sanitation and hygiene practices. Habitat for Humanity Malawi has been advocating for the finalization and enactment of the Disaster Risk Management Bill which provides the legal framework for Malawi to implement resilience policies in facilitating the effective coordination, financing, and implementation of multi-sectoral programs to avert the impacts of climate change in Malawi. When the bill is enacted, it will support thousands of families access resilient homes–a change that will help exponentially more families than any one organization ever could directly serve alone. My New Year’s wish is that every one of you will take full advantage of all that Habitat for Humanity Malawi has to offer-for orphans, widows, and the homeless families that cannot access decent housing on their own—and that you will continue to support us, ensuring that Habitat for Humanity will be here in Malawi impacting many more lives through shelter for the current and for the next generation. Thank you for all the help you gave in 2022 and for being by our side in all we are hoping for in 2023. Warm regards, Anock Kapira National Director Habitat for Humanity, Habitat for Humanity Africa

Habitat for Humanity Malawi wound the year on a high note with a 2-day team building and strategy development retreat in the lakeshore district of Salima. Closing the retreat, the National Director for Habitat for Humanity Malawi Mr. Anock Kapira thanked the staff for their team commitment and dedication in serving the Malawians with housing solutions. The National Director highlighted how Habitat for Humanity Malawi in the year being concluded has successfully convened key actors and brought other organizations together to discuss housing solutions. The Director was also impressed with how the organization has directly implemented projects on addressing housing poverty. “As we appreciate what we have so far achieved, there is still more that we can do and need to start thinking outside the box. We need to make Habitat for Humanity Malawi a think tank and a thought leader in providing housing solutions in Malawi. This will require Habitat for Humanity Malawi to focus more on policy advocacy delivering convincing material and engagement to influence policy direction and support research to identify gaps and potential solutions in addressing barriers to accessing housing in Malawi and this will largely depend on teamwork. I hope the team building sessions and the conversations leading to the development of a new 5 year strategic framework have helped us to redefine a new approach to quality service delivery input from every staff and every department”, he concluded. The team building workshop emphasized on building trust with one another to be more productive on the ministry. The members of staff were also capacitated with mental health and wellness at the workplace. The staff were supported with skills on how to deal with work related stress and burn out. staff also had games and sporting events. This is happening when Habitat for Humanity Malawi has just embarked on developing its new strategic framework and the reflections made during the retreat provide useful insights into the new strategic plan which is expected to be concluded early next year.

Today Habitat for Humanity Malawi handed over 4 semi-detached insulated prefabricated houses to 8 families that were displaced due to cyclones Gombe and Ana. The project was funded by Nostos Homes from India who donated the materials and later travelled to Malawi to construct the houses with the help of local artisans. The units were constructed to withstand disaster as the foundations were raised and were constructed using cement blocks. For Habitat for Humanity Malawi, this is the first time to construct these types of houses. The Director from Department Disaster Management Affairs Reverend Moses Chimphepo received these houses on behalf of government. The Director for Planning and Development for Phalombe district council, Traditional Authority Jenala, Ward Councillor and other community leaders were present to witness the occasion.

Estere Fulayelo and her family of five children moved from the dilapidated house behind her to that grass thatched house which used to be a chicken kraal when Tropical Storm Ana hit Njobvu village, Traditional Authority Jenala in Phalombe district earlier this year. She is now among eight households that have benefited from the prefabricated homes which Habitat for Humanity has provided them in the village on a pilot phase. “Thank God I am starting a new good life,” she says. Habitat for Humanity National Director, Anock Kapira, says their desire is to see people having a decent place to live.

Tonight, Habitat for Humanity Malawi is engaging Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and Climate Change to move the government to finalize and enact the Disaster Risk management Bill. When disaster strikes, housing is the most affected social sector. Every year Malawi continues to mobilize resources to respond to the effects of disaster yet we know the most sustainable way is for the government to redirect the focus from disaster response to disaster risk reduction. The effects of disasters can be reduced if Malawi can invest in Disaster Risk Reduction. For Malawi to effectively do this, we need to amend the current Disaster Preparedness and Relief Act of 1991. Habitat for Humanity Malawi is lobbying with the Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and Climate Change to push for the finalization and enactment of the Disaster Risk Management Bill

NON-STATE ACTORS’ COMMUNIQUE ON THE NEED TO URGENTLY FINALIZE AND ENACT THE DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT BILL The Civil Society Network on Climate Change (CISONECC) partners convened a Stakeholders’ meeting on the need to finalize and enact the Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Bill on 24th November 2022. The meeting brought together stakeholders from various sectors which include the Academia, Civil Society, Media, the Private Sector, and community representatives. The engagement took place at a time the DRM Bill is yet to be tabled in Parliament despite the process dating back to 2015. As stakeholders in climate change and disaster risk management sector; We recognize the need for multi-stakeholder involvement in the formulation and implementation of various climate change and disaster risk management policy frameworks in Malawi with a particular focus on the implementation of the National Climate Change Management Policy, and the National Disaster Risk Management Policy. We acknowledge the importance of the development and implementation of resilience policies in facilitating the effective coordination, financing, and implementation of multi-sectoral programs to avert the impacts of climate change in Malawi. Malawi’s resilience framework calls upon all sectors and stakeholders to pursue a proactive and integrated way of reducing the impacts of climate change hazards through sustainable, innovative, and realistic strategies with strong partnerships and networks. We commend the interest and the commitment of the Government of Malawi in participatory formulation and implementation of the resilience policies and the support of the development partners through the provision of technical and financial support in developing policies and their implementation. We reiterate our unwavering commitment in the search for solutions that seek to reduce the impacts of climate change and strengthen national resilience thereby reducing the impacts of disasters. We understand that there is an interplay of constraining technical, financial, and political factors and that there are some capacities and incapacities among us as stakeholders, but we resolve to come together and tap into each other’s strengths and efforts to enhance national resilience and safeguard human dignity and a sustainable future. We are concerned with delays by the Government of Malawi to have the DRM Bill tabled in Parliament as evidenced by the back-and-forth engagements between the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) and the Ministry of Justice. We also lament that the Government of Malawi is losing a lot of resources in disaster related expenses; a situation which can easily be abated by the provisions of the DRM Bill once enacted. We, therefore, present the following demands in relation to the finalization and enactment of the DRM Bill into law, as well as general disaster risk management: 1. Depoliticize the DRM Bill CSOs and Stakeholders in the DRM sector started advocating for the enactment of the DRM Bill in 2017. There was a glimmer of hope when the draft bill was gazetted on 10th May 2019 that it would soon be tabled in the August House. Since then, there have been protracted discussions between DoDMA and the Ministry of Justice which have not yielded any tangible outcome, an indication that the delay might be caused by a lack of political will. The Government should seriously consider desisting from politicizing the DRM Bill and DRM issues in the country. The CSOs and stakeholders appeal that DoDMA should be independent of the political spheres’ interference, and the implementation of the bill needs to be free of political machinations in all its nature, shape and form, and any relief items that the Government is providing should not in any way carry the political names, flags or colors. 2. Invest in Disaster Risk Reduction In the past 3 years, Malawi has been hit by devastating cyclones and tropical storms that have rendered thousands of people homeless and displaced, injured, and others dead, destroying their belongings and crop fields. In times of these disasters, civil society organizations, the private sector, development partners, and well-wishers always show their support by giving different forms of assistance. This year, prior to Tropical Storm Ana, over MWK7 billion was mobilized for response and recovery during and after the 2021/2022 rainfall season. 10 months after the Tropical Storms Ana and Gombe, the country is yet to recover from the damages caused by the tropical storms despite spending a lot of funds on the same. It is worrisome that such amounts are biased towards responding to the recovery of communities from disaster effects and not towards reducing the vulnerabilities of people and ecosystems at risk through disaster risk reduction. Meanwhile, years have passed with CSOs still lobbying the Government to enact the Disaster Risk Management Bill to pave way for investments in disaster risk reduction. It is evident that “fixing the economic system in order to create wealth for Malawians” should include investing in the DRM sector where Malawians lose wealth, which they amassed throughout the year to disasters whose impact can be prevented. In addition, “fixing the agricultural system to achieve food security for Malawians” must include investing in strong infrastructure for harvesting the runoff water for irrigation purposes after the rainfall season rather than letting it loose to destroy lives and livelihoods. Organizations and communities can implement climate change adaptation interventions but there is need for Government to redirect the focus from disasters response to disaster risk reduction! 3. Strengthen the Capacity for key actors in DRM Stakeholders, including the CSOs, should play a role in ensuring that the community level, as well as district level structures that have been put in place, are well-capacitated for the roles the bill and policies provide for. The devolution plan should therefore be activated as soon as the bill is passed and decentralization of the functions in the department should already be underway to ensure smooth implementation of the bill, since disasters are emergencies that are not planned. 4. Set up an Information Management System for Disaster Risk Management Government through DoDMA and Environmental Affairs Department (EAD) as well as the CSOs working in the Climate Change and DRM should ensure that they develop a