Chitipa District Council has welcomed a gender-based violence (GBV) service provider under the Regional Climate Resilience Programme Phase II (RCRP-II) to enhance efforts to protect communities and safeguard vulnerable groups during project implementation.
The consultant, Edge Consult, was introduced on Monday by the National Local Government Finance Committee (NLGFC) during a District Environment Sub-Committee meeting where stakeholders discussed measures to prevent and respond to GBV linked to project activities.
Chitipa District Council director of economic planning and development Frank Mfune described the deployment as timely, saying it will enhance the council’s capacity to address gender-related risks associated with implementation of RCRP-II.
He said: “We appreciate the engagement of the consultant because we are often overwhelmed with responsibilities across different sectors. Having a dedicated consultant will strengthen our capacity to address GBV issues related to this project.
“We hope this will enable us to be more proactive and ensure that affected people receive timely support through the project’s grievance redress mechanism.”
RCRP-II social safeguards specialist Paul Chagwa said the engagement of GBV service providers is a mandatory requirement for World Bank-financed projects to ensure that risks of GBV, including sexual exploitation and abuse, are effectively prevented and managed.
He said Edge Consult will support the programme by helping to prevent, identify and respond to GBV incidents that may arise during the implementation of climate resilience projects.
“We know that development projects can sometimes increase the risk of gender-based violence. That is why we have engaged GBV service providers to help prevent such cases,” said Chagwa.
RCRP-II for Eastern and Southern Africa is a $240 million World Bank-funded initiative supporting Malawi’s efforts to build resilience to climate change.
The programme builds on recovery interventions following Cyclone Freddy-induced floods that destroyed infrastructure in 2023 in the country.
