European Union provides K43 billion for social net programmes
BY WATIPASO MZUNGU,
A CONTRIBUTOR
European Union (EU) and the Malawi Government Monday signed a €50 million (approximately K43 billion) grant to enable Malawi to implement the Social Protection and Resilience (SoSuRe) programme for the next five years.
The programme has three components, which include consumption support, systems strengthening and resilience.
EU Ambassador to Malawi, Marchel Germann, said in Lilongwe during the signing ceremony that the overall objective of the new programme is to reduce poverty through enhancing resilience among the most vulnerable households in Malawi.
Germann said the intervention aims at increasing livelihood diversification and enhancing food and nutrition security for labour-constrained [ultra-]poor households.
“SoSuRe has been developed at the same time as the Malawi New National Social Support Programme. It has been shaped by the vision of Malawi having a coherent and comprehensive set of social protection interventions that effectively deliver enhanced support to those who need it the most,” he said.
Germann said SoSuRe builds on the ongoing EU support to the Social Cash Transfer Programme, School Meals Programme, Public Works Programme as well as Village Savings and Loans and microfinance schemes, which are integrated into EU-funded projects.
Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, Goodall Gondwe, said the programme will enable government to operationalise key pillars of the Malawi National Social Support Programme.
Gondwe said the government will put a special focus on enhancing food and nutrition security and enhance the resilience of the rural population to the effects of climate change.
“These pillars are essential in breaking the cycle of food and nutrition insecurity; improving gains in gender equity, food and nutrition security and poverty reduction as well as improving cost efficiency by reducing recourse to parallel emergency systems,” he said.
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