By Abel Ikiloni
Blantyre District Council has signed entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with six non-governmental organisations (NGOs) implementing different activities in the district.
The NGOs include Young Women Christian Association of Malawi, Epilepsy Warriors Foundation, AQUAID Lifeline, JHPIEGO, Hygiene Village and Hope for Development.
Speaking on Wednesday, Director of Planning and Development for Blantyre District Council, Melayi Mhone said the MoU is a requirement from the Ministry of Local Government to ensure that the council knows what development projects are being implemented by its partners in the district to benefit residents.
“Through this MoU document, the council outlines its expectations from the partners and vice versa. Additionally, the document indicates project information like the interventions, target population, duration and the budget,” Mhone said.
Mhone, therefore, urged the NGOs to work very closely with various council sector heads so that they benefit from policy direction and coordination of activities to avoid duplication of efforts.
She also appealed to NGOs which have not yet signed the MoU with the council but were operating in the district to enter into this formal agreement expeditiously.
“So far, 30 NGOs have signed the MoUs with the council and we expect others to follow suit,” she said.
However, Mhone underscored the need for the council to have more partners implementing various projects to support it in the provision of essential social services to the people.
JHPIEGO Programme Manager, Chimwemwe Chirembo hailed the council for the initiative.
“We are implementing a sexual and reproductive health (SRH) programme funded by USAID. Our focus is to work with adolescent girls and young women aged between 15 and 24,” Chirembo said.
Chirembo added: “The SRH project is pumping in about over K40 million and it will run up to October 2024 with the hope of an extension depending on whether it will register success.”
