Faith groups against population growth
Various religious groups in the country have agreed to observe a population weekend at the end of this month to sensitize their congregants on the need to limit sizes of their families.
The population weekend, to be observed between August 23 and 25, will among others involve distribution of family planning information materials and delivering of sermons related to family planning and population management in churches of all participating denominations.
Speaking in an interview on Tuesday, Malawi Council of Churches (MCC) executive member Bishop Gilford Matonga said high population growth remains a major threat to provision of social services in the country and prosperity of churches.
“We want to ensure that all the people who follow us know the right family sizes to have. While God said we should multiply like sand, that is not the responsibility of one person. Each family should have fewer children so that they can afford to provide for them and live a better life,” said Matonga.
Muslim Association of Malawi (MAM) regional coordinator Hamid Kongwe said Islam encourages mothers to breastfeed their babies for two years before having another child.
“During this population weekend, we will incorporate family planning messages in our sermons. After that, we will also mainstream issues of family planning in all our programmes, including youth programmes,” said Kongwe.
CCAP Nkhoma Synod general secretary the Reverend Davidson Chifungo said they have joined efforts to advocate family planning to dispel misconceptions that the responsibility to manage the country’s population only rests in the hands of government and not churches.
