WF Malawi: Partners in Faith and Action

World Faith Lilongwe is dedicated to public health, environmentalism, as well as youth advocacy and development in Malawi. 

In the last four years we have pushed through climate activism with a focus on training leaders of religious youth groups from different faith e.g. Christian, Muslim and Baha’i on climate change in general, causes and also impacts to the country, environmental degradation and drivers. We also mobilize young people to identify key community challenges facing as a result of climate change, environmental degradation and loss of the biodiversity, as well as elements of available local and international climate related policies.

Through the available youth structures such as religious youth groups, school clubs and community based organizations and youth forums, we have been able to raise awareness and also sensitizing youth on the threat of climate change, environmental degradation and biodiversity loss. World Faith Malawi have been doing this with the help of youth champions who were trained in climate change and activism. The idea is also to integrate climate change issues in their weekly religious meeting. We have used debates, drama, traditional dances, music and quiz as tools to sensitize the youth.

Since 2015, world faith Malawi has managed to mobilize young people from different religious groups for a Tree Planting Campaign and have planted about 50,000 trees. Targeted places are home steadies, churches or mosques surrounding compounds and schools. Since last year, through our Tree for Every Youth Campaign, we are trying to mobilize the youth to plant a tree and name it, we are doing this through eco-schools and eco-congregation initiatives and we intend from this year improve 80% survival rate and having planted about 500,000 trees by 2023. 

In order to alleviate the effects of HIV/AIDS in Malawi, and prevent it, we have striven to raise awareness on risky behaviors such as drug and alcohol abuse, unprotected sexual behaviors, drug and substance abuse, multi relations, inter-generational relationships, prostitution, sexual violence, early marriages, harmful traditional practices. We also promote sexual reproductive health rights among young people and also comprehensive sex education  

We have this through training of matrons/patron and youth leaders from different religious groups, schools, through youth rallies, youth dialogue sessions and also to mobilization young for voluntary HIV testing and also advocated sustainable access to youth friendly health services and ARTs for those young people living with HIV and AIDS. 

For past two years we have mainly focused on working with young people raised by single parents or guardians.