The Maravi Post

ATLANTA, U.S.—A delegation of the UNICEF Executive Board will tour UNICEF-supported projects and programmes in Malawi during its 2013 annual field visit, according to the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Malawi.

The UNICEF Secretariat in New York in the United States confirmed this and said the board members would make a five-day visit to Malawi from April 8 to 12, 2013.

Newly appointed Malawi Ambassador to the United Nations, His Excellency Mr. C. P. Msosa, said the UNICEF visit is timely.

He said the decision by UNICEF is a clear statement that Malawi is making progress in the areas of nutrition, social protection, safe motherhood and child health among others.

The Malawi envoy said his Government applauds the 2013 UNICEF annual field visit to Malawi because it will highlight the country’s success story.

Meanwhile, UNICEF Malawi Representative, Mr. Mahimbo Mdoe, has said the board members will hold meetings with Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Gender, Economic Planning & Development and Finance.

The UNICEF delegation will also meet with civil society and community based organization leaders. The meetings will be followed by visits to Salima, Mchinji, Kasungu and Mzuzu.

During the visits, the delegation will have a first-hand appreciation of the benefits of the social cash transfer programme; interact with the ultra-poor households; meet with orphans and vulnerable children; medical practitioners; social welfare officers and members of the Malawi Police Service and be briefed about measures which are in use to deal with sexual and gender based violence by appropriate authorities.

UNICEF Malawi also supports the use of Rapid Short Message Service (SMS) technology to improve the collection and transmission of data for growth monitoring, nutrition surveillance, early infant diagnosis, and antenatal and postnatal service utilization. The board members will also visit the Rapid SMS and Community Management of Acute Malnutrition Centres.

The UNICEF Regional Office for East and Southern Africa is excited about the UNICEF Executive Board’s visit to Malawi because the programme of cooperation between Malawi and UNICEF offers good examples of innovative methods to promote maternal and child health interventions, as well as nutrition and Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs)/social protection programming.
---
(c) The Maravi Post 2013

Add attachment