Malawi Country Facts - Tips
Malawi Country
Facts
Bureau of African
Affairs
August
2007
Background Note: Malawi Country
Facts
Farmers use a treadle pump to
water
their crops in the Sanje
district,
Malawi, September 26, 2005. [©
AP
Images]
Flag of Malawi is three equal horizontal bands of black at top, red,
and
green with a radiant, rising, red sun
centered in the black
band.
PROFILE
OFFICIAL
NAME:
Republic of
Malawi
Geography
Area: 118,484 sq. km. (45,747 sq. mi.); land the size of
Pennsylvania, with a
lake the size of
Vermont.
Cities: Capital--Lilongwe. Other cities--Blantyre (the commercial
capital),
Zomba,
Mzuzu.
Terrain: Plateaus, highlands, and valleys. Lake Malawi (formerly
referred to
as Lake Nyasa) comprises about 20% of total
area.
Climate: Predominately
subtropical.
People
Nationality: Noun and
adjective--Malawian(s).
Population (2006 est.): 12.5
million.
Annual growth rate (2006):
3.3%.
Ethnic groups: Chewa, Nyanja, Tumbuka, Yao, Lomwe, Sena, Tonga,
Ngoni,
Ngonde, Asian,
European.
Religions: Protestant 55%, Roman Catholic 20%, Muslim 20%, indigenous
beliefs
3%, other
2%.
Languages: English (official), Chichewa (official), regional
dialects, i.e.,
Chitumbuka, Chiyao,
Chilomwe.
Education: Years compulsory--none. Enrollment (2004)--primary, 82%.
Literacy
(2004 est., age 15 and
older)--64%.
Health: Infant mortality rate (2004)--76 deaths/1,000 live births.
Life
expectancy (at birth, 2005
est.)--40
yrs.
Government
Type: Multi-party
democracy.
Independence: July 6,
1964.
Constitution: May 18,
1995.
Branches: Executive--president (the president is both chief of state
and head
of government), first and second vice presidents,
cabinet.
Legislative--unicameral National Assembly (193 members). Although
the
Malawian constitution
provides for a Senate, in practice the legislative
branch's upper house does not exist. Judicial--High Court, Supreme
Court of
Appeal, subordinate Magistrate
Courts.
Administrative subdivisions: 28
districts.
Political parties: Democratic Progressive Party (DPP, ruling party)
United
Democratic Front (UDF), Malawi Congress Party
(MCP), Alliance for Democracy
(AFORD), New Republican Party
(NRP), National Democratic Alliance (NDA),
People's Progressive Movement (PPM), People's Transformation Party
(PETRA),
and Congress for National Unity (CONU). MCP and UDF
are the two main
opposition parties in
parliament.
Suffrage: Universal at 18 years of
age.
Central government budget--2005/06 $991.6 million (MK 119
billion).
Economy
GDP (2005 est.): $2.1
billion.
Annual real GDP growth rate (2004): 4.6%; (2005 est.)
2.1%.
Per capita GNI (2005 est.): Approx.
$150.90.
Avg. inflation rate (2005): 15.4%; (2006):
11%.
Natural resources: Limestone, uranium (potential), coal, bauxite,
phosphates,
graphite, granite, black granite, vermilite, aquamarine,
tourmaline, rubies,
sapphires, rare
earths.
Agriculture (approx. 34.7% of GDP): Products--tobacco, sugar, cotton,
tea,
corn, potatoes, cassava (tapioca), sorghum, coffee,
rice, groundnuts. Arable
land--34%, of which 86% is
cultivated.
Industry (19.4% of GDP): Types--tea, tobacco, sugar, sawmill
products,
cement, consumer
goods.
Trade (2005 est.): Exports--$578 million: tobacco, tea, sugar,
coffee,
peanuts, wood products.
Partners--U.S., U.K., South Africa, Germany, Japan.
Imports--$1.066 billion: food, petroleum products, semimanufactures,
consumer
goods, transportation equipment. Partners--South Africa,
Zimbabwe, Japan,
U.S., U.K.,
Germany.
Fiscal year: July 1-June
30.
GEOGRAPHY
Malawi is situated in southeastern Africa. The Great Rift Valley
traverses
the country from north to south. In this deep
trough lies Lake Malawi, the
third-largest lake in
Africa, comprising about 20% of Malawi's area. The
Shire River flows from the south end of the lake and joins the
Zambezi River
400 kilometers (250 mi.) farther south in Mozambique.
East and west of the
Rift Valley, the land forms high
plateaus, generally between 900 and 1,200
meters
(3,000-4,000 ft.) above sea level. In the north, the Nyika
Uplands
rise as high as 2,600 meters (8,500 ft.);
south of the lake lie the Shire
Highlands, with an
elevation of 600-1,600 meters (2,000-5,000 ft.), rising to
Mts. Zomba
and Mulanje, 2,130 and 3,048 meters (7,000 and 10,000 ft.). In the
extreme south, the elevation is only 60-90 meters (200-300 ft.) above
sea
level.
Malawi is one of Sub-Saharan Africa's most densely populated
countries. The
population of Lilongwe--Malawi's capital since
1971--exceeds 400,000. All
government ministries
and the parliament are located in Lilongwe. Blantyre
remains Malawi's major commercial center and largest city, having grown from
an estimated 109,000 inhabitants in 1966 to nearly 500,000 in 1998.
Malawi's
President resides in Lilongwe. The Supreme Court is seated
in Blantyre.
Malawi's climate is generally subtropical. A rainy season runs from
November
through April. There is little to no rainfall throughout
most of the country
from May to October. It is hot and humid from
October to April along the lake
and in the Lower Shire Valley.
Lilongwe is also hot and humid during these
months,
albeit far less than in the south. The rest of the country is warm
during those months. From June through August, the lake areas and far
south
are comfortably warm, but the rest of Malawi can be
chilly at night, with
temperatures ranging from
5o-14oC
(41o-57oF).
PEOPLE
Malawi derives its name from the Maravi, a Bantu people who came from
the
southern Congo about 600 years ago. On reaching
the area north of Lake
Malawi,
the Maravi divided. One branch, the ancestors of the
present-day
Chewas, moved south to the west
bank of the lake. The other, the ancestors of
the Nyanjas, moved down
the east bank to the southern part of the country.
By AD 1500, the two divisions of the tribe had established a
kingdom
stretching
from north of the present-day city of Nkhotakota to the Zambezi
River in the south, and from Lake Malawi in the east, to the Luangwa
River in
Zambia in the
west.
Migrations and tribal conflicts precluded the formation of a
cohesive
Malawian society
until the turn of the 20th century. In more recent years,
ethnic and tribal distinctions have diminished. Regional distinctions
and
rivalries, however, persist. Despite some clear
differences, no significant
friction currently exists between
tribal groups, and the concept of a
Malawian nationality has begun to take hold. Predominately a rural
people,
Malawians are generally conservative and
traditionally
nonviolent.
The Chewas constitute 90% of the population of the central region;
the Nyanja
tribe predominates in the south and the Tumbuka in the
north. In addition,
significant numbers of the Tongas
live in the north; Ngonis--an offshoot of
the Zulus who came
from South Africa in the early 1800s--live in the lower
northern and lower central regions; and the Yao, who are mostly Muslim, live
along the southeastern border with
Mozambique.
HISTORY
Hominid remains and stone implements have been identified in Malawi
dating
back more than 1 million years, and early humans
inhabited the vicinity of
Lake Malawi 50,000 to 60,000
years ago. Human remains at a site dated about
8000 BC show
physical characteristics similar to peoples living today in the
Horn
of Africa. At another site, dated 1500 BC, the remains possess features
resembling Negro and Bushman
people.
Although the Portuguese reached the area in the 16th century, the
first
significant Western contact was
the arrival of David Livingstone along the
shore of Lake
Malawi in 1859. Subsequently, Scottish Presbyterian churches
established missions in Malawi. One of their objectives was to end
the slave
trade to the Persian Gulf that continued to the end of the
19th century. In
1878, a number of traders, mostly from
Glasgow, formed the African Lakes
Company to
supply goods and services to the missionaries. Other missionaries,
traders, hunters, and planters soon
followed.
In 1883, a consul of the British Government was accredited to the
"Kings and
Chiefs of Central Africa," and in 1891, the British
established the Nyasaland
Protectorate (Nyasa is the Yao word for
"lake"). Although the British
remained in control during the first half of the 1900s, this period
was
marked by a number of unsuccessful
Malawian attempts to obtain independence.
A growing European and
U.S.-educated African elite became increasingly vocal
and politically
active--first through associations, and after 1944, through
the
Nyasaland African Congress
(NAC).
During the 1950s, pressure for independence increased when Nyasaland
was
joined with Northern and Southern
Rhodesia in 1953 to form the Federation of
Rhodesia and Nyasaland. In
July 1958, Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda returned to
the country
after a long absence in the United States (where he had obtained
his
medical degree at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee
in
1937), the United Kingdom (where he
practiced medicine), and Ghana. He
assumed leadership of the NAC, which later became the Malawi Congress
Party
(MCP). In 1959, Banda was sent to Gwelo Prison for his
political activities
but was released in 1960 to participate in
a constitutional conference in
London.
On April 15, 1961, the MCP won an overwhelming victory in elections
for a new
Legislative Council. It also gained an important role in the
new Executive
Council and ruled Nyasaland in all but name
a year later. In a second
constitutional conference in London in November 1962, the British Government
agreed to give Nyasaland self-governing status the following
year.
Dr. Banda became Prime Minister on February 1, 1963, although the
British
still controlled Malawi's financial,
security, and judicial systems. A new
constitution took
effect in May 1963, providing for virtually
complete
internal
self-government. The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland
was
dissolved on December 31,
1963, and Malawi became a fully independent member
of the
Commonwealth (formerly the British Commonwealth) on July 6, 1964. Two
years later, Malawi adopted a new constitution and became a one-party
state
with Dr. Banda as its first
President.
In 1970 Dr. Banda was declared President for life of the MCP, and in
1971
Banda consolidated his power and was named
President for life of Malawi
itself.
The paramilitary wing of the Malawi Congress Party, the
Young
Pioneers, helped keep
Malawi under authoritarian control until the 1990s.
Increasing domestic unrest and pressure from Malawian churches and from
the
international community led to a referendum in which the
Malawian people were
asked to vote for either a multi-party democracy
or the continuation of a
one-party state. On June
14, 1993, the people of Malawi voted overwhelmingly
in favor of
multi-party democracy. Free and fair national elections were held
on
May 17,
1994.
Bakili Muluzi, leader of the United Democratic Front (UDF), was
elected
President in those elections.
The UDF won 82 of the 177 seats in the National
Assembly and formed a
coalition government with the Alliance for Democracy
(AFORD). That coalition disbanded in June 1996, but some of its
members
remained in the government. The
President was referred to as Dr. Muluzi,
having received an honorary degree at Lincoln University in Missouri in
1995.
Malawi's newly written constitution (1995) eliminated special
powers
previously
reserved for the Malawi Congress Party. Accelerated
economic
liberalization and structural
reform accompanied the political transition.
On June 15, 1999, Malawi held its second democratic elections. Dr.
Bakili
Muluzi was re-elected to serve a second
5-year term as President, despite an
MCP-AFORD alliance that ran a
joint slate against the
UDF.
Malawi saw its first transition between democratically elected
presidents in
May 2004, when the UDF's presidential candidate Bingu
wa Mutharika defeated
MCP candidate John Tembo and Gwanda
Chakuamba, who was backed by a grouping
of opposition parties.
The UDF, however, did not win a majority of seats in
parliament, as it had done in 1994 and 1999 elections. Through
the
politicking of party chairperson and former President Bakili Muluzi,
the
party successfully secured a majority by
forming a "government of national
unity" with several
opposition parties. President Bingu wa Mutharika left the
UDF party on
February 5, 2005, citing differences with the UDF, particularly
over
his anti-corruption campaign. He formed the Democratic Progressive
Party
(DPP) shortly thereafter, attracting a number of UDF and
independent members
of parliament (MPs) to his new party. The DPP,
however, has also failed to
acquire enough support for a
majority in parliament, and continues to face
stiff
opposition from both the UDF and the MCP in parliament. Meanwhile,
many
politicians are already looking ahead to the next general
elections in 2009,
with Muluzi, Tembo, and Mutharika all expected to
campaign for president.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL
CONDITIONS
The Government of Malawi has been a multi-party democracy since 1994.
Under
the 1995 constitution, the president, who is both chief
of state and head of
the government, is chosen through universal
direct suffrage every 5 years.
Malawi has a vice
president who is elected with the president. The president
has the
option of appointing a second vice president, who must be from
a
different party. The members of the
presidentially appointed cabinet can be
drawn from either
within or outside of the legislature. Malawi's National
Assembly has 193 seats, all directly elected to serve 5-year terms.
The
constitution also provides for a
second house, a Senate of 80 seats, but to
date no action has
been taken to create the Senate. The Senate is intended to
provide
representation for traditional leaders and the different geographical
districts, as well as various special interest groups, such as women, youth,
and the
disabled.
The constitution provides for an independent judiciary. Malawi's
judicial
system, based on the English model, is
made up of magisterial lower courts, a
high court, a Supreme Court of
Appeal, and a constitutional court. Local
government is carried out in 28 districts within three regions
administered
by regional administrators and district
commissioners who are appointed by
the central
government. Local elections, the first in the multi-party era,
took place in on November 21, 2000. The UDF party won 70% of the
seats in
this
election.
The third multiparty presidential and parliamentary elections,
originally
planned for May 18, 2004 were postponed
by two days following a High Court
appeal by the main
opposition Mgwirizano (Unity) coalition. The run-up to the
poll was
overshadowed by opposition claims of irregularities in the voters'
roll. European Union and Commonwealth observers said although voting
passed
peacefully, they were concerned about "serious
inadequacies" in the poll.
Principal Government
Officials
President--Dr. Bingu wa
Mutharika
Vice President--Dr. Cassim
Chilumpha
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security--Bingu wa
Mutharika
Minister of Economic Planning and Development--Ted
Kalebe
Minister of Finance--Godall
Gondwe
Minister of Foreign Affairs--Joyce
Banda
Minister of Health--Marjorie
Ngaunje
Minister of Information--Patricia
Kaliati
Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs--Henry
Phoya
Minister of Lands, Housing and Surveys--Ernest
Malenga
Minister of Local Government--George
Chaponda
Minister of Sports, Youth and Culture--Khumbo
Kachali
Minister of State in the President's Office--David
Katsonga
Minister of Trade and Industry--Ken
Lipenga
Minister of Transport and Public Works--Henry
Mussa
Minister of Tourism--Calista
Chimombo
Malawi maintains an embassy in the United States at 1156 15th Street,
NW,
Suite 320, Washington, DC 20005 (tel.
202-721-0270; fax 202-721-0288).
Malawi's Permanent Mission to the United Nations is located at 866 UN Plaza,
Suite 486, New York, NY 10017 (tel.: 212-317-8738/8718; fax:
212-317-8729;
e-mail:
Malawinewyork@aol.com or
MalawiU@aol.com). Malawi also maintains
an
Honorary Consulate in Los Angeles at 44970 Via Renaissance,
Temecula,
California 92590
(office number, 951-676-2476; fax number, 951-676-1568; and
e-mail,
malawiconsul@yahoo.com).
ECONOMY
Malawi is a landlocked, densely populated country. Its economy is
heavily
dependent on agriculture. Malawi has few
exploitable mineral resources. Its
two most important export
crops are tobacco and tea. Traditionally Malawi has
been
self-sufficient in its staple food, maize, and during the 1980s
exported
substantial quantities to its drought-stricken neighbors.
Agriculture
represents
34.7% of the GDP, accounts for over 80% of the labor force, and
represents about 80% of all exports. Nearly 90% of the population
engages in
subsistence farming. Smallholder farmers produce a variety
of crops,
including
maize (corn), beans, rice, cassava, tobacco, and
groundnuts
(peanuts).The
agricultural sector contributes about 63.7% of total income for
the
rural population, 65% of manufacturing sector's raw materials,
and
approximately 87% of total
employment. Financial wealth is
generally
concentrated in the hands of a small elite. Malawi's manufacturing
industries
are situated around the city of
Blantyre.
Malawi's economic reliance on the export of agricultural commodities
renders
it particularly vulnerable to external shocks such as
declining terms of
trade and drought. High
transport costs, which can comprise over 30% of its
total
import bill, constitute a serious impediment to economic development
and trade. Malawi must import all its fuel products. Paucity of
skilled
labor; difficulty in obtaining
expatriate employment permits; bureaucratic
red tape;
corruption; and inadequate and deteriorating road,
electricity,
water, and telecommunications
infrastructure further hinder
economic
development
in Malawi. However, recent government initiatives
targeting
improvements in the road
infrastructure, together with private
sector
participation in
railroad and telecommunications, have begun to render the
investment environment more
attractive.
Malawi has undertaken economic structural adjustment programs
supported by
the World Bank, the International Monetary
Fund (IMF), and other donors since
1981. Broad reform objectives
include stimulation of private sector activity
and participation
through the elimination of price controls and industrial
licensing, liberalization of trade and foreign exchange, rationalization
of
taxes, privatization of state-owned enterprises, and civil
service reform.
In May 2004, the IMF program begun in 2000 was canceled and a
Staff-Monitored
Program (SMP) was implemented. In the wake of
questions about fiscal
creditability, the SMP's goal was to give Malawi's newly-elected
government
the chance to establish a track record of fiscal
discipline. A new Poverty
Reduction and Growth Facility
(PRGF) was approved on August 5, 2005 after a
successful SMP.
In August 2006 Malawi successfully reached the completion
point under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative,
resulting
in debt relief from multilateral and Paris Club creditors.
Over $2 billion in
debt has since been cancelled, enabling the
government to
increase
expenditures for development. A new PRGF has since been
undertaken.
Real GDP increased by an estimated 2.1% in 2005, from 4.6% in 2004
and 3.9%
in 2003. Inflation has been largely under control
since 2003, averaging 10%
in that year and 11% in 2006.
Discount and commercial lending rates have also
declined from 40%-45%
in 2003 to 22.5% currently. The government has moved
away
from controlling the exchange rate, allowing the Kwacha to drift since
down since March 2005. As of April 2007 the Kwacha had depreciated to
139 to
the U.S. dollar. Nevertheless, imports still heavily outweigh
exports, and
the country continues to suffer from a
severe shortage of foreign exchange.
Malawi has bilateral trade agreements with its two major trading
partners,
South Africa and Zimbabwe, both of which allow
duty-free entry of Malawian
products into their
countries.
FOREIGN
RELATIONS
Malawi has continued the pro-Western foreign policy established by
former
President Banda. It maintains excellent
diplomatic relations with principal
Western countries. Malawi's
close relations with South Africa throughout the
apartheid era
strained its relations with other African nations. Following
the collapse of apartheid in 1994, Malawi developed, and currently
maintains,
strong diplomatic relations with all African
countries.
Between 1985 and 1995, Malawi accommodated more than a million
refugees from
Mozambique. The refugee crisis placed a substantial
strain on Malawi's
economy but
also drew significant inflows of international assistance. The
accommodation and eventual repatriation of the Mozambicans is
considered a
major success by international
organizations. In 1996, Malawi received a
number of Rwandan and Congolese refugees seeking asylum. The government
did
not turn away refugees, but it did invoke the principle of
"first country of
asylum." Under this principle, refugees who
requested asylum in another
country
first, or who had the opportunity to do so, would not subsequently be
granted asylum in Malawi. There were no reports of the forcible repatriation
of
refugees.
Important bilateral donors, in addition to the U.S., include Canada,
Libya,
Germany, Iceland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway,
Sweden, Taiwan, and the
United Kingdom.
Multilateral donors include the World Bank, the IMF, the
European Union, the African Development Bank, and the United
Nations
organizations.
Malawi is a member of the following international organizations: UN
and some
of its specialized and related agencies (i.e. UNCTAD,
UNESCO, UNIDO), IMF,
World Bank, Multilateral Investment
Guarantee Agency (MIGA),
World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Berne Convention,
Universal
Copyright Convention,
African Union, Lome Convention, African Development
Bank (AFDB), Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Common
Market
for East and Southern Africa (COMESA), Nonaligned Movement,
G-77, and the
World Health Organization
(WHO).
U.S.-MALAWIAN
RELATIONS
The transition from a one-party state to a multi-party
democracy
significantly strengthened the already cordial U.S. relationship with
Malawi.
Significant numbers of Malawians study in the United States.
The United
States has an active Peace
Corps program, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, and an Agency
for
International Development
(USAID) mission in
Malawi.
U.S. and Malawian views on the necessity of economic and political
stability
in southern Africa generally coincide. Through a pragmatic
assessment of its
own national interests and foreign policy
objectives, Malawi advocates
peaceful solutions to the region's problems through negotiation. Malawi
works
to achieve these objectives in the United Nations, COMESA, and
SADC. Malawi
is the first southern African country to receive
peacekeeping training under
the U.S.-sponsored African Crisis
Response Force Initiative (ACRI) and has
joined the
successor program, African Contingency Operations
Training
Assistance
(ACOTA). It has an active slate of peacetime
engagement
military-to-military programs. The two countries maintain a
continuing
dialogue through
diplomatic representatives and periodic visits by senior
officials.
U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID)
The United States has a substantial foreign assistance program in
Malawi. The
U.S. Government provides about $60 million annually in
development assistance
under USAID's Country Strategic Plan (CSP) for
the period 2001-2007. The
primary goal of
USAID assistance is poverty reduction and increased food
security through broad-based, market-led economic growth, focusing on
four
areas: sustainable increases in rural incomes,
increased civic involvement in
the rule of law, improved health
behavior and services, and improved quality
and efficiency of basic
education. The USAID program is implemented
in
partnership with the
Government of Malawi, nongovernmental organizations
(NGOs), other U.S. Government agencies, U.S. private voluntary
organizations,
contractors, and other
partners.
USAID's program to increase rural incomes includes training and
technical
assistance to increase smallholder (crop,
dairy, forest, and fishery)
productivity; foster additional trade linkages among small farmer
producer
associations, larger commodity-specific industry
clusters, and export markets
(e.g. cassava, chilies, ground nuts,
cotton, coffee, etc.); improve access to
demand-driven financial
services for micro, small and medium-size enterprises
(MSMEs);
increase rural households' revenues from sustainable
natural
resource
management; and improve food security for vulnerable families
in
Malawi's rural areas. USAID is also encouraging
smallholders to diversify
into dairy production, a
very lucrative business in Malawi and well-suited to
Malawi's limited
land area. USAID grantee Land O' Lakes (LOL), partnering
with World Wide Sires, continues to promote the growth of the dairy
industry
in Malawi through 55 dairy associations with over 6,376
members (46% of which
are women). Milk sales grew by 71% this year,
from U.S. $439,276 in FY 2004
to U.S.
$752,000.
2005 was a year of transition for the Democracy/Governance portfolio.
The
primary focus was on the Millennium Challenge
Corporation (MCC) Threshold
Country Program
development process in Malawi, which resulted in a $20.9
million award to Malawi to fight corruption and increase
fiscal
responsibility. U.S Economic Support Funds (ESF) complemented the
MCC
Threshold Country Plan
formulation, providing technical and training support
to the
Anti-Corruption Bureau Investigation Department, delivered by
the
Department of Treasury. USAID also
mobilized a project supported with
Conflict Mitigation and Management funding, building on the strength
of
previous work through radio, to
reduce the potential of inter-religious
conflict in Malawi. During the year many projects associated with
the
Mission's previous
strategy closed out and another project was terminated for
the
convenience of the government to accommodate changes in partner funding
priorities.
In 2005 the USAID Health Team met or exceeded almost all of its
targets.
Under-five mortality rates declined
from a high of 189 per thousand live
births
in 2000 to 133 per thousand live births in 2004--much lower than the
2005 target of 175 per thousand. Total fertility rate (TFR) declined
to 6
children per woman, which was the target for
2005. The proportion of Malawian
children sleeping under an
insecticide treated bednet (ITN) (26% in 2004) was
more than three
times the proportion (8%) sleeping under an ITN in 2000. In
the
area of HIV prevention, the number of USAID-assisted counseling
and
testing centers increased from 3 in
2000 to 51 in FY 2005--overshooting the
target of 39 sites. The
number of clients assisted at these sites per year
increased from about 22,000 in 2000 to more than 59,000 in 2005. The country
completed a national Demographic and Health Survey with major support
from
USAID/Malawi. The report makes available the
first-ever
nationally
representative population-based HIV sero-prevalence rate for Malawi,
which is
important for better-informed policy and program decisions as
the nation
combats the HIV/AIDS
epidemic.
Improving the quality and efficiency of basic education remain the
major
development challenges in the Malawi
education system. USAID continues to
fund
activities that target quality and efficiency at the primary education
sub-sector level, which is having a positive effect at both the local
and
national levels. At the local level,
USAID-funded activities are helping
communities and parents make more informed decisions to improve the
quality
and efficiency of primary schooling. In 2005 USAID
continued to improve the
quality and efficiency of basic
education through: (1) development of
teachers' professional skills through long-term undergraduate and
graduate
training in Malawi and the U.S.; (2)
reinforcement of innovative classroom
practices through
pre-service and in-service teacher training;
(3)
participation of communities and teacher training colleges in
HIV/AIDS
outreach activities; (4)
support of Government of Malawi adoption of key
policy reforms in teacher education and HIV/AIDS; and (5) improving
the
quality and quantity of data
available for
policymaking.
The United States is the largest contributor to the World Food
Program (WFP)
in Malawi, providing over $100 million in food and
other emergency assistance
through WFP since early 2002. USAID will
coordinate requests to the U.S.
Government
for humanitarian assistance, and WFP will handle the logistics of
import and
distribution.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and
Human
Services
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of
Health
and Human Services (DHHS) operates two programs
within Malawi: Global AIDS
Program (GAP) and Malawi
Malaria Program
(MMP).
The CDC GAP office started in November 2001 with an emphasis on
establishing
long-term working relationships with the Malawi
Government, the National AIDS
Commission (NAC) and the Ministry of
Health (MOH). The major areas of focus
during the initial phase
included strengthening Voluntary Counseling and
Testing (VCT), HIV surveillance, evaluation, infrastructure,
and
capacity-building
activities.
GAP Malawi supports multiple HIV surveillance activities including
sentinel
surveillance and the Priorities for Local AIDS Control
Efforts (PLACE)
survey. In
partnership with NAC, CDC GAP continued to strengthen
VCT,
developing multiple
national VCT building blocks such as VCT Guidelines and
VCT
Training materials. CDC GAP also improved the communications and
data
analysis capacity at NAC by helping to
establish their computer system and
establish the
foundation for data
analysis.
In 2003, responsibility for the HIV technical activity was
transferred from
NAC back to the MOH. CDC awarded two
cooperative agreements to provide
transitional support for a smooth transfer of activities, roles
and
responsibilities. In addition, GAP has cooperative agreements that
support
implementation of quality VCT, HIV treatment, and
pre-service training to
strengthen HIV testing
capacity. Capacity-building is an integral part of all
GAP Malawi
activities. GAP Malawi recently went through a joint
HIV/AIDS
strategy development process, along
with USAID, the Department of Defense,
Peace Corps, and
the
Embassy.
The CDC MMP is jointly funded by USAID and CDC has evolved to provide
more
support to the national prevention and control
program. CDC MMP has supported
the work of the National Malaria
Control Programme in developing the country
strategic plan for Roll
Back Malaria (RBM), developing the national "Malaria
Policy,"
developing guidelines for the management of ITNs Program,
and
participating in other
national program
activities.
The Blantyre Integrated Malaria Initiative (BIMI), a program of CDC
MMP, is a
district-wide malaria-control effort, supported jointly by
the Government of
Malawi, the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID), and
the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC). BIMI was established in
Blantyre District, Malawi in
1998 to promote sustainable and effective
strategies to manage and prevent malaria-related morbidity and
mortality.
Initial BIMI efforts focused on measurement of baseline data at
health
facilities and in the
community. The information gathered was used
to
identify gaps in malaria
control activities, to guide strategies
for
implementation of
interventions, and to provide baseline measurements so that
the
success of program interventions can be
monitored.
Peace
Corps
The first Peace Corps volunteers arrived in Malawi in 1963. Under
the
conservative Banda
regime, the program was suspended for several years due to
the
"nonconformist" role of some volunteers but was restored in 1978. Since
that time, the program has developed a close working relationship
with the
Government of Malawi. In total, over 2,200
Americans have served as Peace
Corps volunteers in
Malawi.
The change of government in 1994 allowed the placement of volunteers
at the
community level for the first time. With the increased
flexibility in
programming,
the Peace Corps began working to refocus programming
and
identify more
appropriate areas for Peace Corps intervention at the community
level.
Currently, there are about 100 volunteers working in
health,
education, and
environment.
Health volunteers work in areas of AIDS education, orphan care,
home-based
care, youth and at-risk groups, child survival
activities, nutrition, disease
prevention, environmental health, and
women's health issues. For many years,
Peace Corps/Malawi had the
only stand-alone HIV/AIDS project in the Peace
Corps, and HIV/AIDS continues to be the cornerstone for health
activities.
Education volunteers teach in the fields of physical science,
mathematics,
biology, and English at Community Day
Secondary Schools (CDSSs), generally
community-started
and -supported
entities.
Environment volunteers focus on community-based management of
natural
resources with
border communities near national parks and forest reserves
that want to utilize their resources in a more sustainable manner.
This
includes the promotion of
sustainable agricultural
practices,
income-generating activities, and agroforestry
interventions.
The Crisis Corps program utilizes returned volunteers in
short-term
assignments for specific projects related to HIV/AIDS and food
security.
Crisis Corps volunteers are
generally assigned with a local NGO to assist
with
activities that build capacity and develop materials within
the
organizations.
Principal U.S.
Officials
Ambassador--Alan
Eastham
Deputy Chief of Mission--Kevin
Sullivan
USAID Mission Director--Curt
Reintsma
Peace Corps Director--Dale
Mosier
Centers for Disease Control Director--Austin
Demby
The U.S. Embassy in Malawi is situated in the diplomatic enclave
adjacent to
Lilongwe's City Center section. The address is American
Embassy, P.O. Box
30016, Lilongwe 3, Malawi (tel.
+265- (0)1 773 166/342/367; fax +265- (0)1
772-471).
TRAVEL AND BUSINESS
INFORMATION
The U.S. Department of State's Consular Information Program advises
Americans
traveling and residing abroad through Consular Information
Sheets, Public
Announcements, and Travel Warnings.
Consular Information Sheets exist for all
countries and include
information on entry and exit requirements, currency
regulations, health conditions, safety and security, crime,
political
disturbances, and
the addresses of the U.S. embassies and consulates abroad.
Public
Announcements are issued to disseminate information quickly
about
terrorist threats and other relatively
short-term conditions overseas that
pose significant
risks to the security of American travelers. Travel Warnings
are
issued when the State Department recommends that Americans avoid travel
to a certain country because the situation is dangerous or
unstable.
For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling
abroad
should regularly monitor the Department's Bureau
of Consular Affairs Internet
web site at
http://www.travel.state.gov, where the
current Worldwide Caution,
Public Announcements, and Travel Warnings
can be found. Consular Affairs
Publications,
which contain information on obtaining passports and planning a
safe
trip abroad, are also available at
http://www.travel.state.gov.
For
additional information on international
travel, see
http://www.usa.gov/
Citizen/Topics/Travel/International.shtml.
The Department of State encourages all U.S citizenstraveling or
residing
abroad to register via the State
Department's travel registration website or
at the nearest U.S.
embassy or consulate abroad. Registration will make your
presence and
whereabouts known in case it is necessary to contact you in an
emergency and will enable you to receive up-to-date information on
security
conditions.
Emergency information concerning Americans traveling abroad may be
obtained
by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S. and
Canada or the regular
toll line 1-202-501-4444 for
callers outside the U.S. and
Canada.
The National Passport Information Center (NPIC) is the U.S.
Department of
State's single, centralized public
contact center for U.S.
passport
information. Telephone: 1-877-4USA-PPT (1-877-487-2778). Customer
service
representatives and operators for TDD/TTY
are available Monday-Friday, 7:00
a.m. to 12:00 midnight,
Eastern Time, excluding federal
holidays.
Travelers can check the latest health information with the U.S.
Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia.
A hotline at 877-FYI-TRIP
(877-394-8747) and a web site at
http://www.cdc.gov/travel/index.htm
give the
most recent health advisories, immunization recommendations
or requirements,
and advice on food and drinking water safety for
regions and countries. A
booklet entitled "Health
Information for International Travel"
(HHS
publication number CDC-95-8280) is available from the U.S.
Government
Printing Office,
Washington, DC 20402, tel. (202)
512-1800.
Further Electronic
Information
Department of State Web Site. Available on the Internet at
http://
www.state.gov, the Department of State web
site provides timely, global
access to
official U.S. foreign policy information, including
Background
Notes and daily press briefings
along with the directory of key officers of
Foreign Service
posts and more. The Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC)
provides
security information and regional news that impact U.S. companies
working abroad through its website
http://www.osac.gov
Export.gov provides a portal to all export-related assistance and
market
information offered by the federal
government and provides trade leads, free
export counseling, help
with the export process, and
more.
STAT-USA/Internet, a service of the U.S. Department of Commerce,
provides
authoritative economic, business, and
international trade information from
the Federal
government. The site includes current and
historical
trade-related releases, international market research, trade
opportunities,
and country analysis and provides access to the
National Trade Data Bank.
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See http://www.state.gov/r/pa/bgn/ for all
Background
notes
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Malawi Country
Facts
