BERLIN Last Saturday, non-profit organizations and experts met in Berlin with Malawi’s Ambassador to Germany, Professor Isaac C. Lamba. The aim of the forum was to explore how the various actors working in Malawi can establish cooperation in the future. The result far exceeded expectations. Already at this first meeting, the organizations and the embassy agreed on the foundation of a “German Malawi Association”. The event, which was planned as an informal exploratory meeting, thus overcame the first major hurdle. And it was important to overcome this hurdle early on. Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world. Its gross domestic product is 0.001 percent of that of Germany, the majority of the population has less than 1 US dollar a day to live on and the average life expectancy is 44 years.
Kristina Rösel from the Wildlife Action Group Support association, which has set itself the primary goal of nature conservation in Malawi, was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and openness of all the institutions involved. The representatives of Active Aid in Africa, Fit am Ball Africa, Treffpunkt Malawi, the German Africa Foundation, the Gaia Movement and the association Hilfe für Malawi also agreed on the common goal. Rainer Weiß (Hilfe für Malawi) added, however, that it must not remain with declarations of intent. Rather, a concrete timetable must now be drawn up as to when which tasks will be implemented. Klaus Hess (German Africa Foundation and editor-in-chief of the Afrika- Post) was positively surprised by the development of the discussion. Hess had originally brought up the establishment of a German Malawi Association. And he knows what he is talking about. As President of the German-Namibian Association, he can look back on many years of experience and can be a competent advisor to those working in Malawi in the implementation of the venture.