Malawi is ranked as the 8th poorest country in the world with 73.9% of the population living on less than $1.25 per day (United Nations - 2009).

Malawi has one of the highest national HIV prevalence rates in the world (USAID - 2009)
In 2008, the net enrolment in primary school was 90.6% of eligible children, but for secondary school, only 25% are enrolled (UNESCO - 2008)In 2003, 500,000 children were orphaned by AIDS, that’s almost 13% of the population. (UNESCO - 2005)

On the 6th of July 1964, the Nation Malawi claimed independence from British Rule. Formerly called Nyasaland, it took a the new name Malawi, derived from Maravi, a name of the old Nyanja people that still inhibit the land. Dr. Hastings Kamuzu Banda was the head of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP). Only two years after independence, he established Malawi as a single-party state of which he himself was president-for-life. He ruled Malawi for the following 30 years. Malawi re-wrote its constituion in 1993 and re-introduced the multi-party system. The present president is Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika, commonly known as 'Bingu'.

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth office states that there has been "limited progress on economic and social rights, largely due to persistent poverty and resource constraints" and that women are discriminated against by laws and social practices.

Transparency International, which compiles annual corruption indexes, placed Malawi 85th out of 117 countries 2010. United Kingdom is 20th. President Bingu has been accused of hampering freedom of speech and now increasingly attempting to control the press. A UK envoy visiting in 2011 leaked a diplomatic cable that said that the president "does not take well to criticism". The envoy was consequently kicked out of country and UK has cut its offical aid to the country.

Some even more worrying facts about Malawi is that 14.1% of the adult population is infected with HIV/AIDS. As a result 45.1% of the population is below 14 years old. Many families are headed by a child taking care of siblings and family, also making them the primary breadwinner.

While primary education is for free (unusual in sub-Saharan Africa), secondary school is not. For more information, please have a look at our Sponsor A Child page!