BRITAIN STANDS BY MALAWI

   Urgent British support for the Malawian health system to prevent the cancellation of vital vaccination and bed net programmes was announced today by Andrew Mitchell as part of a refreshed development partnership between the two countries.

Britain will also bring forward previously-agreed funding to help the new President, Joyce Banda, to continue with a positive reform programme in the face of economic turmoil which is threatening to
engulf the country.
The International Development Secretary has agreed with the Governor of the Bank of England for a British economic official to be drafted in to help the Government of Malawi deal with the effects of devaluing the kwacha.
 President Banda welcomed Britain’s commitment to Malawi and said she was looking forward to discussing her future plans with Andrew Mitchell in more detail.
British emergency funding for the Malawian health system will (help) purchase malaria and TB drugs, therapeutic feeding for malnourished children and training equipment for new health workers. It will also support services delivered by the Christian Health Association of Malawi.
Andrew Mitchell, Secretary of State for International Development, said: “I am encouraged by President Banda’s early progress in office. She has put the people of Malawi right at the centre of her Government’s programme and she is listening to the sensible advice from the IMF about how to get the economy back on its feet.
“I called President Banda to tell her that Britain will support Malawi’s Health Ministry and the Christian Health Association of Malawi to ensure that vital services are taken off the ‘at risk’ list
and are delivered for the people of Malawi.
“We are also bringing forward financial support to help the Malawian economy following devaluation and the Governor of the Bank of England has kindly agreed to provide technical assistance in this area.”
Reacting to the announcement, President Banda said: "We welcome this much needed support from the UK for health and to support the economic recovery of Malawi. This support is provided at a
critical time for Malawi and will help to manage the impact on the poor and most vulnerable.
“I look forward to welcoming the Secretary of State for International Development to Malawi in the near future and to discussing the future of UK aid in Malawi with him."
  Andrew Mitchell will travel to Malawi at the end of the month to meet President Banda in person and have detailed discussions with her and her Ministers on further support to help stabilise the economy and how Britain can help drive through the necessary reforms across areas such as education and health and to help boost the private sector.
He will be accompanied by Diana Noble, the new head of CDC, who will see first hand the opportunities for the newly-focused organisation to invest in the Malawian private sector.
Britain has a long and deep friendship with the people of Malawi. In the past two years alone, UK support has provided food security for over 3.5 million people, of which almost two million are women;improved access to emergency drugs for 200,000 people.
Andrew Mitchell suspended budget support to Malawi last year after deceased former president Bingu wa Mutharika failed to address concerns over economic management and governance.
As a result, British funding earmarked for general budget support has been rerouted via NGOs working on the ground with poor Malawians.

THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT WILL:

 •     Britain will provide £10 million in urgent funding for the Malawian health system and £20 million to help stabilise the Malawian economy. All funding comes from  the UK’s existing aid budget in Malawi.
 •     The UK has already agreed to provide £110 million (US$168  million) over five years through the Malawi Health Sector Programme (MHSP), in support of the Government of Malawi’s (GOM) five year health sector strategy, the Health Sector Strategic  Plan 2011-2016 (HSSP). This is the first tranche of support.
 •     Malawi’s first health sector wide programme, the 2004-2011 Programme of Work (POW) which has recently concluded, is judged to have been successful in expanding service coverage and enabling improved and more equitable health outcomes.  However, with continuing shortages of resources and a rapidly growing population, the HSSP faces major challenges in sustaining these health gains.
•     The Ministry of Health will be the primary partner.  Other partners include the Central Medical Stores, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MOLGRD), the Christian Health Association of Malawi (CHAM) (which provides parallel nationwide health services). DFID looks forwards to working with a range of Development Partners from the bilateral and multilaterals under the framework of a memorandum of understanding and a financing arrangement for those who will provide funds to the government.-  PRESS RELEASE FROM THE BRITISH HIGH COMMISSION IN MALAWI.