Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare, Mary Navicha, has reaffirmed government’s political commitment to placing Early Childhood Development (ECD) at the centre of Malawi’s development agenda.
Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday in Lilongwe, Navicha commended civil society organisations, development partners, caregivers, parents, traditional leaders and various government institutions for actively participating in the ECD advocacy and awareness week held in December 2025.
Navicha emphasised that her ministry will continue to strengthen the national ECD coordination framework and work closely with partners to scale up quality community-based ECD services.
“This communiqué is very important and you might be aware that the ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare under the leadriship f Proffessor Peter Mutharika, is committed to make sure that ECD is promoted. Previously we were only focusing on chidren, but now we have included parents and caregivers, because we know that ECD is key” Navicha explained.
Meanwhile, Nanse Chunga Chairperson of the ECD Advocacy Task Team, who is also Executive Director of the ECD Network, said the country requires about 90 billion kwacha to adequately support the ECD sector.
“As advocates, we are happy that the minister has acknowledged challenges facing early childhood Development in the country, so we are requesting the government to make sure they increase the allocation towards ECD”, Chunga said.
Chunga has therefore urged government to allocate at least 36 billion kwacha to the sector in the next national budget.
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