YouthNet and Counselling Organisation (Yoneco) has urged communities in Traditional Authority Makanjira in Mangochi District to maintain peace with their Mozambican neigbours.
The advice follows a protracted misunderstanding between Malawians and Mozambicans living along the border dating back to 2008 when the two nations reaffirmed the boundaries.
But speaking on Tuesday during a training on human rights and peace-building, gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive health rights that Yoneco conducted, Yoneco district manager Funny Chilembo encouraged the communities to maintain peace and avoid any stances that can ignite violence or conflicts.
“Please ensure dialogue and mediation take place whenever there are disagreements. This is the reason we are training you together with other structures to identify trends that could contribute to potential conflict and come up with remedies,” she said.
During the meeting, a community member Agnes William from Makunjeni Village, said they were facing hostility when going to their gardens on the Mozambican side.
“They instruct us [women] to sweep around their homes when we cross the border to work in our farms,” she claimed.
Another community member Gift Sande from Ndete Village said it was difficult to access building poles or grass from forests on the Mozambican side.
Group village head Malamia said the situation was getting out of hand.
“Things only get better once officials from Malawi Government meet their counterparts in Mozambique,” he said.
In September this year, Mozambican High Commissioner Alexandre Herculano Manjate met Minister of Homeland Security Ken Zikhale Ng’oma to come up with a lasting solution on the misunderstandings between Malawians and Mozambicans living along the border.
Yoneco held the training with financial support from the Secretary General Peace Building Fund project through United Nations Population Fund
