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Talking points for his honour the vice president and minister responsible for disaster management affairs, Rt. Everton Herbert Chimulirenji, on the occasion of receiving a donation from the government of Japan, on behalf of the Malawi government

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Malawi
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Govt. Malawi
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It gives me great honour on behalf of the Malawi Government, to receive a special donation by the Government of Japan, towards people affected by the March 2019 Cyclone Idai-Induced floods and disasters that may occur in the country.

The Government of Japan has donated school bags, drinking cups and safety mats. The school bags and drinking cups will be handed over to people affected by the March 2019 floods, who lost most of their property while the safety mats will be used to rescue people trapped in buildings in case of hazards such as fire.

Your Excellency, Malawi is a disaster prone country with common hazards like floods, prolonged dry spells, pests and disease outbreaks, earthquakes, strong winds, amongst others. The frequency and magnitude of disasters is increasing in light of the rapid population growth, urbanization, environmental degradation and effects of climate change.

Malawi has, therefore, prioritized disaster risk management in its National Growth and Development Strategy. Government approved a National Disaster Risk Management Policy in February, 2015 to effectively coordinate Disaster Risk Management programmes aimed at building resilience of the nation and communities. The policy outlines Malawi’s priority areas and strategies to build a nation resilient to disasters. Malawi has also developed a National Resilience Strategy to enhance resilience building efforts.

Government of Malawi appreciates the technical and financial support rendered to it by the Government of Japan in the area of Disaster Risk Management and Humanitarian Response. Following the March 2019 floods, Japan through the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) quickly responded to the appeal for assistance and supported affected households in some affected districts with shelter and non- food items namely family tents, tarpaulins and blankets, just to mention a few.

Apart from Government of Japan, several Japanese institutions and well-wishers also supported towards the response to the floods. These include Sakkai Gakai who donated US$10,000 towards the response and material support from Otta City and SDG Promise Japan, a Japanese NGO based in Malawi.

Furthermore, the Malawi Government appreciates ongoing technical cooperation towards capacity building of DRM Institutions and personnel in the country. Malawian officers have attended various training sessions organized by JICA in various aspects in Japan.

Government has also developed the 2018/2019 Lean Season Food Insecurity Response Plan to mobilize resources and coordinate the implementation of humanitarian assistance towards food insecure households. The programme is not fully resourced. I would therefore like to appeal for assistance towards the response programme.

Lastly your Excellency, I would like to thank you for facilitating our trip to attend the TICAD 2019 meeting which was held in Yokohama, Japan. Thank you so much for your support which made the trip a great success.

I thank you, Your Excellency.

ManaNews

Lisa Kadango, Malawi News Agency Photojournalist