Ireland pumps K1.75bn to humanitarian response
Irish Ambassador Aine Hearns says her country is committed to supporting humanitarian response programmes towards vulnerable communities in the country.
She said this at Mgubo in Mchinji last Thursday when she visited emergency cash transfer programmes different non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are implementing in response to the country’s food crisis.
Hearns said Ireland has since contributed K1.75 billion (about $2.5million) towards the 2015/16 response by a consortium of NGOs alleviating suffering and assisting malnourished children.
“Ireland is impressed that the NGO consortium is making positive strides in linking humanitarian response to long-term development such as village savings and nutrition behaviour change activities,” she said.
Hearns called on government to ensure that maize is available in selling points, including Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) markets to meet current needs of the food insecure.
Concern Worldwide country director Caoimhe de Barra said her organisation and other NGOs implementing the programmes have targeted the most vulnerable households such as those without formal wages and without regular income as per the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (Mvac).
“The first distribution of the cash transfer begins this January and ends in March. The households will receive money equivalent to the market price of a 50-kilogramme bag of maize per month. This is about K14 000 to K17 000,” she said.
In Mchinji, the project is targeting 25 308 vulnerable households in traditional authorities (T/As) Mkanda, Mduwa, Mlonyeni, Dambe, Zulu and Mavwere.
The emergency cash transfer programme will also target households in 18 districts across the country.
