Malawi Scotland Partnership in ‘beyond aid’ symposium 

Malawi Scotland Partnership (MaSP) has organised a symposium to be held on  February 23  2018 at Bingu International Conference Centre (BICC)  in Lilongwe under the theme ‘Malawi Beyond Aid’ to celebrate the links of Malawi and Scotland.

MaSP is an independent national umbrella organisation which exists to inspire the people and organisations of Malawi to be involved with Scotland in an informed, coordinated and effective way for the benefit of both nations.

It was established in 2005 under the Company’s Act. Among other objectives, MaSP is there to support the coordination of Malawi’s links with Scotland, contribute to effective advocacy and enhance the capacity of civil society organisations in the country.

The MaSP chief executive officer Vera Kamtukule said the grouping has been organising a symposium  for the past six years which brings together all Scottish government grant recipients to one place to connect, network, share, learn as well as plan for the year ahead.

She said this year will also mark 12 years of formal cooperation between the Governments of Malawi and Scotland in spite of enjoying a mutually beneficial friendship for 159 years dating back to when Dr David Livingston first came to Malawi.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Emmanuel Fabiano, MP will preside over the event as Guest of Honour.

“ We will also have representatives from the Scottish Government, the British High Commissioner, Government of Malawi officials, civil society organizations and individuals implementing Scottish government funded projects,” Kamtukule said.

She said the symposium  shall have four strategic aims:

1. To provide useful information and updates for projects in Malawi;
2. To help strengthen links with the Governments of Malawi and Scotland;
3. To facilitate active networking and shared learning between projects;
4. To provide space to listen to projects and discuss their key issues;

Kamtukule said participants can bring two representatives from their organization and they will also have a chance to have a table from which they will showcase their projects.

Meanwhile , in Glasgow on Tuesday the Scotland Malawi Partnership (SMP) held sought to raise awareness of and strengthen Scotland’s links with Malawi, bringing young people from all over Scotland together with a range of people and organisations with Malawi links.

The SMP notes that active civic Malawi links can be found in every constituency in Scotland, and that a 2014 University of Edinburgh study found that 300,000 Scots per year benefit from links with Malawi, while two million Malawians benefit from links with Scotland.

Enock Bamusi of the Association of Malawians in Scotland said they appreciate  the “sound” relationship between Scotland and Malawi.

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