Capacity Building

With Funding from Finland- Finnish Association of the Deaf , The project supports the organizational capacity building of Malawi National Association of the Deaf. The long term development objective of the project is an empowered Malawi Deaf Community so that Deaf people have a strong positive Deaf identity and can act on equal basis with the hearing people in the Malawi society.

The status of the deaf is weak in Malawi. The status of sign language as the first language of the deaf has not been recognized. The majority of the deaf live in poverty, without opportunities to education or a vocation.

By supporting the District activities of MANAD the amount of their members grow and more deaf and hard of hearing grow aware about their rights. Through influencing and information dissemination the aim is to shift the attitudes of the society and influence decision making, development of services, and the realization of rights. The main beneficiaries are the deaf, their families, and the national association, giving it an opportunity to improve its organizational capacity.