Recent natural disasters, including Cyclone Freddy, have stood in the way of Malawi’s progress towards meeting her 2023 strategic plan target of expanding pre-school access by 73 per cent, the Ministry of Gender has disclosed.
Principal Child Affairs Officer for the lead Ministry, Nellie Masamba, states that this is despite a decade of gains in the number of Child Based Care Centres, from 2000 in 2012 to 13 000 in 2023.
“Pre – school access currently stands at 53 percent. This might also be a result of implementing our policy of ensuring that only children between the ages of 3 to 5 are enrolled in CBCCs in the country,” she added.
MBC’s Development Broadcasting Unit (DBU) and Mibawa Television have since teamed up efforts in implementing a campaign on the promotion of positive responsive childhood parenting.
The national initiative, which is also expected to advocate for increased ECD investment, has scheduled community mobilization interventions in Mzimba, Nkhotakota and Balaka districts.
Meanwhile, a two – day message development session for the UNICEF-funded campaign is underway in Blantyre.
