CONGOMA from 26th to 28th of October held the NGO Week at Masintha community ground in Lilongwe. This year’s event, under the theme “Breaking the Cycle of Poverty in Malawi: What is the Role of NGOs” was graced by Her Excellency Mia Seppo, the Resident Representative of United Nations in Malawi.

The week attracted displays from over 50 local and International NGOs operating in Malawi and some private companies working with NGOs. These NGOs displayed some of the products and services they offer to the communities. The displays were done by NGOs in the different sectors i.e. Health, Education, Agriculture, Water and Sanitation, Governance, Environment, economic governance just to mention a few.

NGO Week is CONGOMAs Flagship event. The concept has been embraced by

CONGOMA since 2004 when the first event took place at the Lilongwe Technical College. The second event was held in Mzuzu in 2007 while the 3rd and 4th events took place in Lilongwe in 2014 and 2015.

Some of the major opportunities created by the NGO Week include: Articulation of public policy demands by NGOs; Fostering mutual learning among NGOs, Government, Private Sector and Development partners; Strategic communication of NGO development outcomes, technologies and services; Enhancing NGO solidarity and unity of purpose.

The theme for this year’s event was selected to highlight the increasing poverty levels in Malawi which studies indicate is at 52%. This rising poverty is also buttressed by a stagnant Human Development Index for Malawi (Avg. 0.34 from 1980-2010) that points at the fact that people’s lives have not improved for a long time.