Perspective

Why Malawi wants the UN to change

United Nations is part of Malawi. It was here at independence and has played a fundamental role in Malawi ever since. It helped us draft the constitution and set up the National Assembly and other constitutional bodies. It has supported the passage of laws that guarantee human rights, gender equity and the rights of the child and helped us with the capacity to implement them. It supported our decentralization process, elections, the Vision 2020 exercise and strategic plans in sectors ranging from agriculture and the environment, trade and public sector reform, to orphans and maternal mortality. So many key institutions in this country were designed and established in partnership with the UN, including the National Statistical Office, the Malawi Investment Promotion Agency, the National AIDS Commission and many other bodies.

The UN continues to play a major role in helping us avoid and respond to emergencies and famines.

But the aid environment is changing. Under the terms of the Paris Declaration, we want more resources to go through the Treasury as direct budget support or to be put behind sector plans, for example in health, agriculture or education as sector budget support. Many donors are willing to do this if we can prepare results oriented, measurable plans supported by strong accountability. That means we need to strengthen our procurement, project management, coordination, monitoring and reporting systems, among other things.

We want the UN to help us with this. This means the emphasis should not be on individual projects but on helping us to develop sectoral plans and to strengthen our capacity to coordinate, manage and implement them. As with the donors, we expect the UN to reduce the ‘transaction costs’ it represents for us in terms of having separate requirements, for example reporting, procurement and M&E. Obviously this is a big challenge for the UN, with so many different agencies and activities, and when Ministries sometimes wants the UN to support stand alone projects or initiatives. But it has to be done.

So we are delighted that the UN Country Team is now moving ahead with ‘delivering as one’ and positioning itself to support us achieve the Paris Declaration. Success in doing this could really help the Government manage development assistance and to achieve the MDGs.

Hon. Goodall Gondwe Minister of Finance

Referee, Score Keeper, Bench Warmer or Valuable Player?

Halfway to the 2015 target date to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, Malawi’s progress is mixed.

Good rainfall patterns and the government’s bold agricultural input subsidies programme resulted in two consequent years of bumper harvests and improved poverty levels and food security. The focus now is to diversify produce and increase irrigation as Malawi remains largely dependant on rain fed agriculture. Savings and micro-finance facilities are marginal. People need to access credit to improve their standards of living, and engage in economic activities, and especially women.

The MDG on reducing child mortality is on track but maternal mortality rates are among the highest in the world. These fatalities can be halted with simple measures including immunisation, distribution of mosquito nets, prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV and proper nutrition. Pregnant women need contraception to avoid unplanned pregnancies, skilled attendance at births, functional referral systems, timely and quality emergency obstetric.

With clean water and sanitation, we can reduce the appalling numbers every year who suffer from cholera and other water borne diseases.

Primary school enrolment has increased to 80%, and the ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary schools increased to 1.05 and 0.85 respectively. But almost half a million do not complete primary school education, especially girls and orphans. The quality of education needs attention. An average class has more than 100 children.

The fight against HIV and AIDS is making remarkable progress. The ART programme in Malawi has one of the highest coverage in Southern Africa, with 100,000 people are on ART from less than 10,000 at the end of 2004. Prevalence rates in urban centres have declined slightly but rural areas are reporting high rates.

Parliament passed the Domestic Violence Bill in 2006 and the Wills and Inheritance Act is pending in parliament. More women are playing an active role in mapping out their future and accessing equal opportunities. The majority of women are in rural areas, which remain underserved by social services and marginalised.

The United Nations have a responsibility to advocate for national ownership, monitor the progress and support the Government in addressing the constraints to achieve the goals. Question: Are you we just keeping the score, warming the benches or ensuring every thing we do has an impact of every man, woman and child in Malawi?

From the next issue, we explore progress, constraints and milestones towards achieving the development goals for Malawi and the UN’s collective role. We will invite opinions from within and outside the UN on their perspective on the UN’s role.

Issue 1 2007