Journalists in the country have been challenged to use their communication skills to break the poverty cycle in Malawi especially at household level.
Project Manager for St. John of God Hospitaller Services, Christopher Mhone, made the appeal in Mzuzu when the facility hosted journalists to an orientation workshop on a latest income saving mechanism dubbed Self Help Group (SHG) Approach.
Mhone said after five decades of independence, it remains a pity that an average Malawian household survives on less than a dollar a day.
He then said it is high time the media became part of the equation to break the vicious cycle.
“The role of the media in stirring change cannot be overemphasised; unfortunately African Nations and Malawi in particular have oftentimes alienated this very important arm of society. But we realise that as a nation we can achieve a lot more by taking our pressmen on board,” he said.
Speaking on the new approach, Mhone said the SHG stands to challenge the economic status quo where a majority of Malawians are denied the right to move out of poverty through control of resources.
In the approach individuals, especially women, mobilise themselves into homogeneous groups of 15-20 members and embark on an income saving initiative where they also share various skills and experiences on how to improve their livelihoods.
“This is a rights-based approach which aims at empowering the vulnerable groups, and for the five years that it has been operational it has paid dividends. People have graduated from the poverty bracket and reclaimed rights to own economic resources,” Mhone explained.
One of the participants of the workshop, Herbert Chawinga, said the media realise their critical role in the society, however disclosed that the antagonistic relationship with political arm remains a major setback.
Implementation of the SHG project started in 2010 by about 10 non-governmental organisations from various faculties with funds from Germany.
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