MALAWI: Catholic University Gear for Disaster Risk Management Awareness
Isaac Mwalwimba
Luke Bisani
The Catholic University of Malawi (CUNIMA) through its Centre for Environmental Affairs is geared for Disaster Risk Management awareness across the country as a way of preventing natural disasters.
Speaking during an environmental radio programme on one of the local radio stations in the country, the Director of the Centre Isaack Mwalwimba said the University through the centre plans to bring awareness on Disaster Risk Management to citizens of Malawi.
Mwalwimba said that there is an information gap on natural disasters among citizens hence the need to have awareness.
“For example, people think of floods as something that only affects people who are in rural areas, but this is something that affects everyone whether they are from the rural or urban area,” said Mwalwimba.
“People need not blame only cutting down of trees for charcoal production as the cause of floods but also poor planning in our cities” He added.
He further explained that due to population growth, people have opted to relocate to the disaster-prone area for construction.
“We have now people who are daring mother nature by constructing along the river banks, hills and this has wider implications as far as disaster management is concerned,” Mwalwimba explained.
The CUNIMA’s Environmental Affair Director also urged all stakeholders on environmental matters to be using research finds shared by institutions of higher learning for implementation.
For the past years, Malawi has been experiencing natural disasters that have been affecting people both from the rural and urban areas of the country.
The Catholic University of Malawi has three centres, namely Centre for Environmental Affairs, Centre for Socio-Theological Studies, and Management Resource Centre.
