By Tione Andsen
Lilongwe, June 29, Mana: Government has appealed to stakeholders to play their rightful role to spearhead mind-set change among societies in order to foster development in the country.
The Minister of Home National Unity, Timothy Mtambo made the appealed Wednesday during the official opening of a two day Malawi 2063 Mind-set Change Symposium organized by World Vision in collaboration with National Planning Commission (NPC) at Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe
He said key stakeholders include Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Non-governmental Organization (NGOs), religious, and traditional leaders that have a huge task to influence positive thinking among societies in order to achieve their aspiration of their developmental needs.
Mtambo said for the country to attain mind-set change there was need for the society to move into the world of possibilities.
He said the Empowered World View Model that has been adopted by the World Vision to advocate for Mindset Change is a multidimensional tool that could be used in all spheres of influence to bring about change.
The Minister said the model was a key tool to changing individual attitudes and household dynamics through the empowerment of both adult and youth household members by changing the existing unequal power relations and restoring broken relationships.
“Through the Empowered World View component, the outcome has been encouraging as it has helped in building more equitable gender relations and shifting mindsets as well as reshaping perceptions on women’s and men’s roles in society,” he said.
He added that what the symposium carries in its bag is a practical approach to translating the intentions of the Malawi 2063 agenda.
Mtambo pointed out that reflects well with the core mandate of his Ministry, which was to civically empower Malawians and unite them regardless of the region, tribe, religion or political affiliation.
“This unity is required for the achievement of the goals of this country’s long-term strategy, Malawi 2063. I have no doubt; the country’s agreed vision is to be an inclusively wealthy and self-reliant nation by 2063,” he explained.
The Minister said this could hardly be possible if the citizens are not committed to peaceful coexistence which translates to unity of purpose.
He said the World Vision has provided the platform to search ourselves and establish the growth of mindset or a fixed mindset.
Director of Development Planning for NPC, Dr Grace Kumchulesi said enabler of Mindset Change in the Malawi 2063 would assist to help in the realization of the government’s vision of making Malawi “an inclusively wealthy and self-reliant nation.”
She said three main key pillars of agricultural productivity, industrialization and urbanizations are main drivers in the implementation of Malawi 2063.
National Director for World Vision, Francis Dube said mind set change calls for individuals to be creative in order to uplift their lives and for others.
He said this could be achieved if individuals come to term in order to realize that mind-set was instrumental to improve their livelihoods by thinking of utilizing their opportunities within their localities.
