Malawi belongs to the group of "least developed countries" (LDCs), and with a per capita income of 356 US dollars annually Malawi is one of the poorest states in the world. But Malawi is on the move: The economy has grown by an average of 8 per cent over the last years, and also in those sectors that are particularly important for social development, health and education, the trend is positive.

 

The Government of Malawi pursues with its national development strategy, the "Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS)", a policy to reduce poverty. Germany supports this goal and aligns its development cooperation programme to this framework. This relationship between the countries looks back on a long tradition: Malawi is a partner for German Development Cooperation already since independence in 1964.

 

The priority areas of cooperation agreed between the two governments are health, primary education and democratic decentralisation. Besides that, Germany has committed to provide budget support to the Malawi national budget.

Health - Within the framework of a Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) German Development Cooperation supports the Ministry of Health to ensure the delivery of the "Essential Health Package", a package of cost effective interventions that cover most of the needs and are offered free of charge. The German contribution focuses on human resources development, better service delivery and strengthening of the systems. ( Find more information here.)

 

Education - In this sector, German Development Cooperation concentrates on Basic Education. Special support is given to the development of  a new sector strategy (SWAp) and the areas of Pre- and In-Service Training of teachers, the implementation of a methodologically and contextually revised Curriculum, non-formal Education opportunities for school drop-outs as well as to a healthy nutrition policy for the pupils.

Democratic Decentralisation - GDC supports the implementation of the Malawi Government's decentralisation policy. The assistance comprises measures on the political, the financial and the administrative level. The population's political participation is supported, districts are enabled to plan and implement investment activities independently and increase their own income. In this context, reforming work procedures in local administrations plays a crucial role.

Budget support contributes to efficiency and ownership in development cooperation as joint goals and responsibilities are agreed between government and development partners. Budget support shall enable the Government of Malawi to conduct national programmes for poverty reduction in a more effective, efficient and flexible way. This instrument is suitable especially to support long-term reform processes and to afford growth of public expenditure in essential social sectors such as health and education.
Furthermore, budget support provides the opportunity to intensify political dialogue between the Governments and enhances coordination of development partners.