Malawi SDG Acceleration Fund approves new programs, allocates additional funds to fight COVID-19
Malawi Sustainable Development Goals SDG Acceleration Fund has approved new programmes and allocated additional 3 billion kwacha to fight COVID-19
The Malawi SDG Acceleration Fund supports three Joint Programmes to improve health systems, keep girls in school as well as build community resilience.
At its meeting on 5th February, the Fund’s Steering Committee, co-chaired by Secretary to Treasury Chauncy Simwaka and UN Resident Coordinator Maria Jose Torres, endorsed three Joint Programmes that address the core of national priorities, decentralizing implementation to district level and ensuring services reach the last mile.
Malawi’s SDG Acceleration Fund (SDG-AF) was set up in 2019 by Government, development partners, and United Nations (UN) to accelerate progress towards national attainment of the SDGs through various programs.
Each programme is multispectral and involves multiple government ministries and UN agencies, focusing on girls’ education, building resilient livelihoods for the poor and vulnerable as well as improving access to basic healthcare.
The combined budget of the three Joint Programmes for the next four years is about 101 billion kwacha
These programmes are financially supported by the fund with contributions from donors which are United Kingdom, Norway, Canada, Flanders, Ireland, Romania and UN.
“These programmes represent strategic partnerships between Government of Malawi, including local authorities and communities, and the UN,” said Simwaka
He thanked the support of development partners in a step towards accelerating SDG agenda in the next 10 years as outlined in Malawi 2063 Vision.
At the meeting, the Committee activated the Fund’s Humanitarian Window to help tackle the second wave of COVID-19 in support of Government Response Plan.
Torres said “the new contribution, this time thanks to support from Canada, will strengthen Malawi’s response to tackle the pandemic and its adverse socio-economic effects by ensuring that vulnerable groups such as women and girls are not left behind in the response.”
At the meeting, Canada was welcomed as a new donor to the Fund.
