UNICEF MALAWI Chief of Social Policy Edward Archibald has urged government to prioritize allocation of resources in the coming National 2018 – 2019 budget into areas that will have significant impacts on the lives of children and the youth in Malawi.
Archibald made the remarks Monday in Lilongwe when addressing journalists on submissions UNICEF
made to the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development in relation to the upcoming budget.
In its submission, UNICEF has made recommendations on four major areas.
These include education with a main focus on secondary education and Early Child Development (ECD), Social Development with a focus on child protection and social cash transfer, Health; prioritizing Community and Primary Health Services and also on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).
Archibald said much as UNICEF acknowledges the existing funding challenges government faces, it is however important to direct the existing resources into areas of high impact.
“We are also pragmatic and realize there are limitations on the government side in terms of the funding it has. As UNICEF, as much as that would be welcome; our analysis in not saying there should be more money.
“What we are emphasizing on is for the redirection of the available funds into high impact interventions…
“For example; within the education or health budget, what could be the most effective way of spending those funds in order to improve the outcomes for the children of Malawi,” said Archibald.
The Chief of Social Policy added saying it is important to involve the public and parliament in matters of the national budget by providing them with as much information as possible, so that they may be able to provide an oversight.
This he said increases transparency and accountability, and in the process improves the effectiveness and efficiency of the budget.
“There is a survey that is undertaken every two years called the Open Budget Survey that ranks over a hundred countries across the world in terms of transparency and accountability.
“So in line with the Open Budget Survey agenda, we see some opportunities for information on the public budget to be widely available for the public to be widely involved. This would have an impact on the effectiveness and the efficiency of the funding,” said Archibald.
In order to improve access and quality of ECD, government has been requested to double the ECD budget to at least K1.2 billion from the K600 million allocated in the 2017 – 2018 budget, and also increase the capital budget for the construction of urban and rural secondary schools.
On Social Development, UNICEF recommends government to revise the SCTP figure from MK1.5 billion to MK2.5 billion, and also that MK200 million from the proposed MK4.8 billion to be used for constructing reformatory centres in order to protect children.
It has also recommended an increased allocation to District Councils for ORT for WASH from MK187 million to MK252 million on the account that unsafe water and unhygienic practices claims nearly 3000 lives of under five children every year.
On health, UNICEF recommends a fare share of resources to be allocated to Community and primary health in order to adequately provide essential services like maternity services in order to save more lives of children and those of their mothers.