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Dr. Mary Shawa, Principal Secretary for the Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare, with HPP Senior Technical Advisor, Erin McGinn. Photo by Health Policy Project.

August 13, 2015

LILONGWE, Malawi—The Health Policy Project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U. S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), celebrated its project’s work at an event, “Health Policy Project Exchange: Systems Strengthening for Improved Sexual and Reproductive Health Outcomes” on August 11 at the Capital Sunbird Hotel.

The event included more than 70 participants, including the Principal Secretary, Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare, Acting Principal Secretary, Economic Planning and Development Ministry of Finance, Chair of the Malawi Parliamentary Committee on Health, Chair of the Malawi Parliamentary Women’s Caucus Committee, USAID Health Office Chief, and many more distinguished guests and partners.

The event showcased the lessons learned and achievements from the Health Policy Project’s work with the Ministry of Health; Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare; Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development; and partners at the national and community levels over the past four years to build capacity for improved global health policy, advocacy, finance, and governance.

“Malawi, like all other developing countries, realizes that population and development are closely linked. Addressing population issues, therefore, is essential for complementing government efforts in domestic resource mobilization and sustainable economic development,” said Mr. Yona Kamphale, principal secretary for Economic Planning and Development of the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, in his opening remarks.

According to Dr. Jay Gribble, deputy director for Family Planning and Reproductive Health, Health Policy Project, “While the Government of Malawi was one of the first African countries to reach the Millennium Development Goal of significantly reducing child deaths, it is important that we now galvanize our efforts around the new and ambitious sexual and reproductive health, HIV and AIDS, and gender and gender-based violence mainstreaming goals of the government. We are pleased that with USAID funding, the Health Policy Project is supporting these efforts.”

During the event, participants learned about the project’s innovations, results, and experiences and heard insights from partners on next steps to improve systems strengthening. Key achievements of the project included assisting government with developing key strategies (e.g., on youth-friendly health services), supporting multisectoral coordination on population and development, working with religious leaders and six “mother bodies” to promote family planning to congregants, and generating evidence and analysis to inform policies and programs.

In closing, Mr. Kamphale observed that this meeting should not be just a review of the interventions we have already implemented, “but also as a springboard to plan and launch further interventions that contribute to the achievement of national development goals.”

Learn more about HPP's work in Malawi.