Centre of excellency for people with disabilities in Salima pic by Tione Andsen (Mana)
By Tione Andsen
Norway has pledged to continue supporting people with disability in the country by providing basic vocational training skills
Senior Adviser in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Norway, Lise Albrechtsen made the remarks Thursday when she visited MACOHA Kambwiri Tailoring Centre in Salima.
She said providing vocational skills could enable them to economically stand on their own in society and venture into various small scale businesses.
Albrechtsen said the concept of leaving no one behind is encompassing that all vulnerable and marginalized people in society need to be supported.
“Am very impressed with what I have seen where women with disability are acquiring new skills. We are happy to say that Norway will continue assisting the women in their endeavours,” the Adviser said.
She the implementation of 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations (UN) fits well to programme being supported by Norwegian government through UN Women in Malawi.
UN Women Country Representative in Malawi, Clara Anyangwe said the programme is supporting women with disabilities and those women whose children have disabilities.
She said the programme is aimed at encouraging the first cohort of trainees to form cooperatives at the end of the training so that they should be able to access credit facilities.
“We believe there is need to identify markets for their products. This initiative is tailored at women empowerment concept where no one should be left behind in the development process of the country,” Anyangwe said.
Salima District Commissioner, Charles Mawembe said the project was launched in 2018 and is being supported by UN Women through Malawi Council for the Handicapped (MACOHA).
He said most of the activities at the centre include textile and garment manufacturing where they are able to produce a variety of clothes for individuals and institutions.
“To us this is one of the good initiatives; the Council has received because it is able to support the people who are considered to be marginalized in society. At the end of the training the participants will be able to stand on their own economically after acquiring new vocational skills,” Mawembe pointed out.
Centre Manager for MACOHA, Mc Robert Manjale said his organization is operating two such centres at Kambwiri, Salima Boma and Tikondane in Chipoka,
He said in total there are 48 trainees in which most of them are the one with physical challenges while very few are able bodied individuals.