Severe flooding in Malawi

Heavy rains in early January led to severe flooding across Malawi. CBM and partners are responding to ensure that persons with disabilities are included in relief measures.

Situation overview

In early January heavy rains in southern Africa led to severe flooding across Malawi. A State of Disaster was declared by the Malawian government in the 15 affected districts.

CBM, with partners Malawi Council for the Handicapped (MACOHA), the Federation of Disability Organisations of Malawi (FEDOMA) and the Department of Disability and Elderly Affairs (DDEA) are working to promote ageing and disability mainstreaming in emergency response while directly responding to specific needs of persons with disabilities. This twin-track approach will enable access to basic needs in an equitable, dignified and autonomous way.

Key actions

5 February - CBM Emergency Programme Manager Tushar Wali attended the inception workshop for the programme teams of our partners and reported enormous enthusiasm for the work - in fact, many of the newly recruited Community Rehabilitation Workers (CRWs) are actually coming from the worst affected districts and have had first-hand experience of floods. The inception workshop was a success; all staff are in place and have been deployed to the three districts, and all operational aspects were clarified.

Peter M.G Ngomwa, acting Executive Director of MACOHA stated during his opening speech that "CBM's timely and strategic guidance on how to respond to the emergency has been great support." He then went on to say that he wish to take the opportunity to convey his deepest gratitude to CBM donors and concluded by saying "CBM has proven the saying ... A friend in need is a friend in deed".

21 January - CBM, its partners, and other NGO members of Disability working group met the Department of Disability and Elderly Affairs to identify key priority areas for action to ensure that the ongoing response is disability inclusive.
CBM has also shared an information sheet on 'how to make disaster response disability inclusive' with various humanitarian actors including UN agencies.
CBM partners, MACOHA and FEDOMA have carried out quick assessments to identify the impact of floods on persons with disabilities and immediate needs.