Government of Malawi in collaboration with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the African Union (AU) has embarked on the Country Structural Vulnerability Assessment (CSVA) process to strengthen Malawi’s capacity to withstand and recover from crises.
Head of Governance, Peace and Security for COMESA, Dr. Oita Etyang disclosed this on Thursday in Blantyre during an engagement meeting with various stakeholders from the southern region regarding the CSVA.
Etyang said the exercise is a follow-up to the letter that the Government of Malawi wrote to the AU and COMESA to undergo self-examination on challenges and strengths related to governance, climate change, gender, security, education and development in order to plan better for the future.
“So, we are here in Malawi to engage with various stakeholders at the regional and then at the national level for us to be able to understand what the problems are, the challenges, the strengths and what it is that we can do together to solve some of those underlying challenges.
“We expect this exercise to end on December 17. Our expectation is to have a comprehensive and consolidated report that will include a mitigation strategy to provide long-term solutions to the challenges,” he said.
District Commissioner for Blantyre, Alex Mdooko described the consultative meeting as crucial in addressing critical and complex challenges and also in understanding the coherent risks and strengths that shape the ability of the nation to withstand and recover from economic, social, environmental and geopolitical crises.
“Blantyre and many districts in the southern region of Malawi have seen a good number of cyclones, the latest being Freddy and also an El Niño-induced dry spell.
“I am optimistic that the deliberations of the meeting will explore the frameworks, methodologies and innovative tools that can support policymakers, researchers and practitioners in identifying key areas of concern and leveraging strengths to enhance adaptive capacities,” he said.
Malawi has become the second country to undergo CSVA in the COMESA region. Similar meetings are being conducted in the other two regions of Malawi.
