By Macdonald Thom:
The Norwegian Government has provided 4 million Norwegian Kroner (about K341 million) to the Malawi Government to be used to assist people affected by recent floods and strong winds.
The assistance will be provided through the World Food Programme.
The support comes after Norway also provided K753 million to Malawi through the United Nations Central Emergency Relief Fund. This was part of the support given to countries affected by Cyclone Idai.
In an interview on Monday, Ambassador of Norway to Malawi, Steinar Egil Hagen, said the support was given in response to the recently released flood response plan and appeal.
Hagen, however, said there is need to do more in disaster response.
“Malawi is prone to effects of climate change and it is important that contingency planning and emergency preparedness is prioritised for future disasters. The National Resilience Strategy is of vital importance to reduce human suffering caused by the increased frequency of floods and droughts in many areas of Malawi,” he said.
According to the response plan and appeal released last week, $45.2 million is required to assist 162,240 households. By the day of the launch, government had received about $9 million. $5.7 million was pledged.
The plan, however, had a funding gap of $30.6 million.
Meanwhile, Hagen has highlighted that Malawi is one of Norway’s main partner countries for long-term development cooperation.
“Agriculture has been one of our main areas of cooperation in the 20 years we have been present in Malawi. There has been substantial support to the agriculture sector through both the multi-donor Trust managed by the World Bank, as well as several other projects,” Hagen said.
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