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Malawi, taking its name from 'fire flames’, the reflection of the rising sun on the waters of Lake Malawi, is situated in Central Africa and was a former British
colony called Nyasaland that was established in 1891 and became
independent as the nation of Malawi in 1964. It is now a
democratic country with its first ever free elections in May 1994,
although that and subsequent election results have been deemed
'irregular' and there continue to be significant public corruption issues. Malawi is one of the ten poorest nations on the planet and is in 174th place out of 189 countries and
territories in 2019 when ranked in terms of life expectancy,
literacy, access to knowledge and the living standards of a
country. 85% of its population
live in rural areas
and overall over half that population are living on less than
60p a day with malnutrition accounting for the death of half of all Malawi children.
Life expectancy in Malawi is 64.26 years (2019) with many suffering from malaria,
tuberculosis and HIV-AIDS, with Malawi's HIV prevalence being one of the highest in the world given 9.2% of the adult population (aged 15-49) live with the virus despite concerted attempts by the governemtnt to address the issue. In fact, the death rate is so severe that 42.99% of the population in 2020 was under the age of 14. Part of the reason for the lack of resources chronic and underdevelopment in
Malawi was the mismanagement of the economy by President
Hastings Kamuzu Banda for thirty years after the country's
independence. However, after he left power in the 1990s, political stability
has provided a footing for a reformation of the country with the
privatisation of many loss making state-run institutions.
Uranium exports are also helping to boost export earnings in a
move away from reliance on foreign humanitarian aid. Yet natural phenomena continue to hinder progress with the country often being afflicted by severe famines caused by droughts with eight serious episodes in the last 36 years affecting millions leaving them without proper food supplies. Only a third of children in Malawi have access to safe water making childhood disease common.
As ever education is the key to change, however poverty is so rife, many
Malawi children spurn school in order to beg for food for themselves and their
families. In fact, some three-quarters of secondary school-aged children have left education to either work or stay at home provide care for their families and nearly 30% of children in Malawi are engaged in some form of child labour. Those children who do attend school benefit from learning in general but specifically
regarding how to develop the agricultural base of their country and how to prevent the
spread of AIDS. All this costs money of course and, without international aid, these much
needed programmes for change would falter. For more about
Malawi, check out our profile articles below.
Malawi Profile: Volunteer in Malawi
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Malawi Profile: Malawi History
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Malawi Profile: Life in Malawi
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Malawi Profile: Malawi Children
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Malawi Profile: Malawi Street Children
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Malawi Profile: Lilongwe Profile
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Malawi Profile: Malawi Airport
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Malawi Profile: Malawi Images
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Malawi Profile: Lake Malawi
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Malawi Profile: Malawi Quiz
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Malawi Profile: Child Sponsor Malawi
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Malawi Profile: Malawi Map
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Malawi Profile: Malawi News
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