DISABILITY PROGRAMMES

Globally, the population of persons with disabilities is estimated to account for about 15% of the whole population. In Malawi, the 2018 PHC reports indicates that about 1.5 million of the national population are persons with disabilities and majority of whom live in rural areas and are among the poorest of the poor. According to the 2018 Malawi Population and Housing Census, persons with disabilities are defined as those having difficulties or problems in one or many of the following areas; seeing, hearing, walking/climbing, speaking, intellectual, self-care, and other difficulties. Persons with at least one type of disability aged 5 years and older in the country formed 10.4 percent of the country’s population. Out of the persons with at least one type of difficulty, 49 percent had difficulty seeing, 24 percent had difficulty hearing, 27 percent had difficulty walking/climbing, 9 percent had difficulty in speaking, and 16 percent had intellectual difficulties, and 8.5 percent had difficulties in self-care. The 2018 Population and Housing Census also showed that 0.8 percent of the population are persons with albinism.

The section undertakes programmes for persons with disabilities in order to:

• Promote policy and legislation development and review which impact on the lives of persons with disabilities
• Economically empower persons with disabilities through vocational skills training
• Raise awareness and promote rights, needs, potentials and contributions of persons with disabilities
• Facilitate mainstreaming of disability issues in the public and private sectors
• Monitor implementation of policies and programmes on persons with disabilities

ELDERLY PROGRAMMES

Globally, the population of older persons is estimated at around 600 million. In Malawi, the population of older persons is on the increase. The 2018 Population and Housing Census (PHC) report shows that there are around one million older persons representing 5.4% of the national population. In Malawi, old age is often characterized by extreme poverty, poor housing conditions, loss of dignity, becoming a victim of difficult circumstances including providing care and support to vulnerable and orphaned children among other challenges (National Policy for Older Persons, 2016). At these ages, people become more vulnerable to socio-economic shocks and have limited capacity to sustain their lives.

The Elderly Affairs Section coordinates the implementation of programmes aimed at, among other things:

1. Providing policy guidance and technical support and advice on ageing
2. Promoting and protecting the rights of older persons
3. Ensuring livelihood enhancement and resilience building for the elderly through social protection interventions
4. Eradication of violence against the elderly
5. Building capacity of staff and stakeholders