Our work in Malawi

Our programme in Malawi, called Banja La Mtsogolo, was established in 1987 to address the country's high maternal mortality and unsafe abortion rates, while combating HIV/AIDs and poor sexual health.

Today we are Malawi’s largest non-profit provider of quality sexual and reproductive health services and responsible for providing 65% of the country's contraceptives. We focus on delivering our services to people most in need, primarily women living in hard-to-reach rural and urban areas and young people.

Despite this, the country’s maternal mortality rates are pretty grave - 510 women die from pregnancy or delivery-related causes per 100,000 live births. This translates into the death of around 3,450 Malawian women annually, many of whom had wished to avoid becoming pregnant.

The lack of access to quality contraception contributes to large numbers of unwanted pregnancies. Even though abortion is highly restricted in Malawi, every year around 78,000 women risk their lives to undergo unsafe abortion. One in five of them end up suffering from severe, often-life threatening complications and disabilities.

How we deliver services in Malawi

Through a network of 26 clinics and 41 mobile outreach teams we deliver high quality services to those most in need and in hard-to-reach areas.

By ensuring that women have access to modern contraception and the tools and knowledge necessary for preventing HIV infection, we have helped increase the country's contraceptive prevalence rate to 59%. Our team hope to reach 60% by the end of 2020, and thanks to their fantastic work they're firmly on-track to surpass this target.