SHA/UP November & December Newsletter

P1 - Key Programme Highlights

P2 - Update on our programmes and looking back at our impact

P3 - Operations, research and our team

Highlights

By Amy Frost, Country Director (Maternity cover)

2022 was another successful fundraising year for our various projects, particularly for our Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) programme. Delivering 12 projects across 15 districts valued at $3.2m, SHA/UP has reached over 1 million people with sustainable WASH services. Our fundraising efforts now have secured approximately $2.6m in the 2023 pipeline to scale up WASH services. Notably annual funding has increased for our Dowa Integrated WASH (DI-WASH) and Beyond Boreholes projects in Dowa and Thyolo respectively. We've also provided support to the Mozambique country program in securing $300,000 from the Medicor foundation; an important step towards building a strong regional WASH footprint. A huge thank you to our donor partners for continuously supporting our work and the communities we work with.

As our 5 year European Union (EU) funded KULIMA BETTER project comes to an end, SHA/UP held a learning event titled: “Agricultural research key to Sustainable Agricultural Production and Diversification” bringing together 130 stakeholders (93 men, 37 women) from the agricultural sector including project partners, private sector, and civil society organisations to share lessons learned and recommendations from interventions such as the Farmer Field Schools approach. The guest of honour was the Controller of Agricultural Extension and Technical Services (CAETS) Mr. Alfred Mwenefumbo and the EU Head of Cooperation, Mr. Ivo Hoefkins.

Joining the global campaign of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, our Reaching our Goals (ROG) and Sustainable Production, Economic growth, Accountability and Resilience (SPEAR) projects, along with the Malawi Irish Consortium against GBV, supported the Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare (MoGCDSW) with hosting the national launch in Dedza, graced by the Honourable Minister Dr. Patricia Kaliati. To kickstart the launch, a netball game was played by 16 of our ROG participants with messages of anti-GBV, gender equity, and empowerment messages shared throughout the match.

P4 - Stories from the people we work with

Under the Sustainable Energy Management Unit (SEMU), SHA/UP participated in the national energy conference in Mangochi on 29-30th November 2022, under the theme "Energy: Catalyst for Sustainable Development". Organized by the Renewable Energy Industries Association of Malawi (REIAMA) together with the Ministry of Energy, the conference was a learning platform for opportunities and innovations in the energy sector. With projects funded by the Scottish Government, Energising Development (EnDev) and the Embassy of Ireland, SHA/UP provided recommendations for policymakers including creating designated space for microgrids in rural electrification, smart subsidies, reduction in Value Added Tax (VAT) and forex barriers, and investment in clean energy research and capacity building.

The EU funded SoSuRe project held goat fairs in Mulanje targeting Social Cash Transfer (SCTP) beneficiaries that have the potential to graduate (exit) from the programme. Eligible beneficiaries, through a voucher system, receive 4 female goats and 1 male goat. As part of building livelihood capacity, these goats can be used for consumption at the household level, selling for income, and as a source of manure through goat droppings that will boost crop productivity.

As part of its national-level WASH advocacy efforts, on the 14th of November 2022, SHA/UP had an audience with the Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Water and Sanitation, Mr. Elias Chimulambe to highlight UPs current WASH work across the country and share intended plans as a key partner in emergency response and installations of solar water supply systems. A key interest of the Ministry is the functioning and impact of the charity: water funded solar powered system in T/A Msakambewa, Dowa that will be the prototype for learning and adaption for similar water systems across the country.

Bonanza

The popular Chitetezo Mbaula football bonanza was held in Phalombe district, registering a staggering 729 unit sales of the fuel-efficient cookstoves within three days of the tournament. The matches played at Traditional Authority level and using sports as a community mobilization tool, the bonanza championed stove sales as well as behavior change messages exposing the community to using more environmentally-friendly ways of cooking to increase their household income, save time and take action against deforestation. Cholera prevention messages were integrated throughout the matches. The winning team in the bonanza received prize money of MK60,000 while second place got MK35,000; third place MK25,000; and fourth place MK15,000.

Self Help Africa/United Purpose in Malawi continues to work towards greater integration across our teams and programmes, as well as in our systems that enable us to implement programmes across the country. Recently we have been focusing on implementing one management information system, salesforce, across all aspects of our work; including HR, Programme management and reporting and IT support.

Training sessions have been held both virtually and face to face to ensure all team members who will be using the system are supported to understand how it works and what the system is being used for - over time more functionality will be rolled out, so that we have global management information available for everyone within the organisation. Refresher training is already planned for early 2023.