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Clergy encourage family planning

The Malawi Council of Churches (MCC) has asked people in Karonga to increase uptake of family planning messages in their communities to appreciate the negative impact of overpopulation.

The council made the call on Sunday during an open day event on religion and population held at Iponga Primary School in the district.

MCC programmes coordinator and public relations officer M’theto Lungu said there was need to ensure that people have right messages on population.

He said the open day was one way of sending the message to people on best practices of family planning.

Said Lungu: “It is important that people know the effects of overpopulation. They should understand the consequences of having many children and failing to take good care of them.

“They need to be aware of how overpopulation is impacting negatively on resources and the environment.”

He said it was the desire of MCC to stimulate debate among communities on their responsibilities regarding planning for their families. Lungu also said it is high time couples started planning and deciding on the number of children they can have and how to take care of them.

Lungu said through various committees on population and development in communities, MCC is using chiefs and religious leaders to spread the right messages on population.

Speaking on behalf of Traditional Authority Mwakaoko, John Mbukwa commended MCC for taking the project to the area.

He said: “We are happy to be among the beneficiaries of this project. In our area, there are high cases of early marriages and school dropouts due to overpopulation.

“With the knowledge that MCC is providing to us through this project, we believe our situation will eventually change as people will have grasped the need for family planning.”

The Population and Development coordinator in the area, the Reverend Mussa Mwanguukulu of Iponga Moravian Church, pledged to preach against overpopulation and promote development.

The three-year project started in 2017 and is expected to end in 2019. Funded by the White Ribbon Alliance through Palladium Group, the project is also being implemented in Salima, Nkhotakota and Mangochi districts.

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