Ministers urge urban beneficiaries to join livelihoods support groups

The Minister of Gender and Social Welfare Honourable Jean Sendeza, MP has encouraged beneficiaries of the Urban Social Cash Transfers programme to join COMSIP groups for cash plus interventions.

The Minister was speaking during the launch of the government initiative that will see 105,000 households receiving a one off payment of 150,000 in the cities of Zomba, Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu to cushion them to rising prices and ease access to food.

The initiative is being implemented under the Social Support for Resilient Livelihoods Project, whose Livelihoods Support Program component is implemented by COMSIP Cooperative Union Limited.

The Minister asked the beneficiaries to utilize the money for its intended purpose and join COMSIP groups that will be formed under the programme for their economic independence.

In his remarks the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs Simplex Chithyola Banda, MP commended COMSIP for its financial literacy interventions saying if beneficiaries can utilize them, they would change their livelihoods forever.

“I am impressed that COMSIP has financial literacy in its trainings, and that the manuals are translated in Chichewa which all of us here understand. I would like you to utilize these trainings so that your livelihoods can be transformed,” he said.

The urban social cash transfer is being implemented by the government of Malawi with financial support from the World Bank and Multi Donor Trust Fund amounting to MK15 billion.

The transfers are to be finalized by the end of March, 2024.