Inadequate funding affects persons with disabilities

Lack of funding in most organizations for people with mental and physical challenges is affecting the timely delivery of their programmes, the organizations have complained.
Such organizations include Federation of Disability Organizations in Malawi (FEDOMA), Malawi Council for the Handicapped (MACOHA), Malawi Union of Blind, (MUB), Albino Association of Malawi (AAM), Malawi Disability Sports Association, (MADISA), Parents of Disabled Children Association of Malawi (PODCAM), Association for the Physically Challenged and Deaf of Malawi (APDM), Disabled Women in Development (DIOWODE) and Malawi National Association for the Deaf (MANAD).
These organisations have for the past three years failed to receive full funding for their programmes, a development said to have impacted negatively on their programmes.
HIV and Aids Coordinator for MACOHA, Dyford Mpunga, for instance, revealed that his organisation has not received funding for HIV and AIDS programmes from the National Aids Commission (NAC) for a year, thus stalling their activities.
Despite writing proposals to various companies and NAC in 2008 to fund their HIV and Aids programmes nothing has materialized. The organizations, under their umbrella body FEDOMA, requested for K50 million from NAC but they are still waiting for the funding despite accept the proposal.
“We run a lot of activities and projects especial in Machinga, Blantyre, Lilongwe, Kasungu, Mzimba and Salima to sensitise people on preventive measures on the issues of Aids but no-one is coming to our rescue,” he said, adding that the activities include educating peers, train people on sign language, produce brochures and distribute them to people with disabilities, and translate brail for visual impaired.
MACOHA , established to empower and promote the rights of persons with disabilities, manufactures hand made products, dyes T-shirts with HIV and Aids messages, through financial and technical support from NAC, Population Service International (PSI), and also has a programme on Television Malawi (TVM) for sign language in a bid to reach out to people with hearing impairments as well as raise awareness on Aids.
The programme started in the year 2006 to equip staff on HIV and Aids issues that 50 percent of its staff should declare their sero-status before 2009.
Another representative of the organizations- Phillip Lapozo, Project Officer for MADISA, concurred with Mpunga on funding saying the face similar challenge in their organisation.
He said his organisation was depending munch on sponsorship from NICO Marathon competition but since their pulling out some three years ago, the organisation has nothing in its plate.
“We were one of the beneficiaries from NICO Marathon competitions. And their pulling out has affected us quite a lot,” he said, they remained only with Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS).
Lapozo, who doubles as Public Relations Officer, said they have stayed for six months without any activities due to lack of funding .
The organisation requested K4.5 million from NAC for HIV and Aids activities in four districts of Mulanje, Chikwawa, Machinga and Balaka, an effort that hit a blank wall.
MADISA was formed in 1998 to develop and promote sports for persons with disabilities.