MHRRC scales up Fighting inequality project to Dowa, Ntchisi, and Nsanje

By Vincent Gunde

Dowa Dec members sharing experiences on MHRRCs presentation

The Malawi Human Rights Resource Center (MHRRC) will implement a one-year Enhancing Citizens’ Participation in Local Governance and Development Processes 111 (Fighting inequality) project in the 3 districts of Dowa, Ntchisi and Nsanje.

For 2 years, the project was being implemented in Dowa and Ntchisi and has been scaled up to Nsanje to provide a roadmap for the audience under the Joint Country Programme (JCP)-Malawi supported by Norwegian Church Aid and Danish Church Aid (NCA-DCA).

The project will increase and improve pro-poor budgeting and expenditure, duty bearers being accountable and transparent in the management of resources allocated to Education, Health and Social Security.

Introducing the project to the District executive committee (Dec) in Dowa, MHRRCs Capacity Building Associate Noel Msiska, said both supply and demand of social and development needs are strengthened to achieve sustainable results and lasting change for the citizenry.

Msiska said the project has a goal of contributing towards fighting inequality through enhanced pro-poor budgeting allocation and expenditure in the sectors of Health, Education and Social Protection.

He said the project will see to it that there is meaningful engagement of rights holders and duty bearers in social service delivery and accountability for development resources in the targeted districts of Dowa, Ntchisi and Nsanje.

The Associate said signs are emerging that many citizens are increasingly feeling remote and disconnected from the processes that affect their lives saying they feel more and more disempowered by trends of service delivery in schools, hospitals and Social Security.

He called for the need for a meaningful engagement of rights holders and duty bearers in social service delivery and accountability for development resources saying Joint Country Programme (JCP) supports decentralization policies to be successful in dealing with equity issues in the targeted districts.

Msiska said it is important to strengthen institutional mechanisms that encourage the poorer and more marginal human rights to access government officials, improve access to educational opportunities, health and social services.

“The project will create incentives to promote more interactions between less powerful rural residents,” said Msiska.

He said among key interventions of the project include community mobilization and awareness campaign on the councils funding baskets such as SIG, CDF, DDF, Locally Generated Revenue and Service Charters, citizen budgets, developmental plans and social protection programmes such as AIP, School Bursary and Social Cash Transfer Programme (SCTP).

MHRRC will implement Fighting inequality project in the 3 districts of Dowa, Ntchisi and Nsanje with an overall budget amounting to MK386,947,643.37 at an average per district of MK90,287,763.37.