FutureLife-Now! is a regional programme designed to address the scourge of HIV and the associated challenges related to gender and climate change. To achieve its goal of reducing new HIV infections and increasing adherence to Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) amongst children and youth in the SADC Region, the programme leverages the successful SADC Care and Support for Teaching and Learning (CSTL) Framework—developed in the early 2000s and which, in 2018, reached over 30 million of the region’s learners with support services.

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Between May 2019 and February 2020, the FutureLife-Now! the team conducted a context analysis and a baseline assessment to establish the status of learners’ knowledge and reported behavior related to HIV prevention and SRH (sexual and reproductive health), and climate change.

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An important component of the FutureLife-Now! programme is the testing of a package of school-based HIV/SRHR services and support in secondary schools. The medical service fair, facilitated by Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education in partnership with FutureLife-Now! and its local partner, the United Methodist Church, made a significant contribution towards this support package.

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According to the United Nations, the COVID-19 pandemic is a health and human crisis threatening the food security and nutrition of millions of people around the world. MIET AFRICA’s regional programme, FutureLife-Now!, recently provided food parcels to vulnerable learners and their families in Malawi through its humanitarian emergency COVID-19 response project.

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In July, the FutureLife-Now! in-country coordinators and youth facilitator in Zambia visited the programme’s pilot schools, located in the Central and Lusaka Provinces. The purpose of the visit was to distribute 3 875 “dignity packs” to learners. The delivery of the packs—which included items such as soap, Dettol, toothpaste, sanitary towels and fruit juice—gave rise to much excitement and joy among the learners (and staff)

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During the FutureLife-Now! baseline survey that was conducted in the pilot schools in Lesotho, a scan of their infrastructure showed that all the schools were in dire need of improvement to their water, sanitation and hygiene facilities. For example, St. Barnabas High, a school with an enrolment of 670 learners, 21 teachers and 19 non-academic staff, has, for the last 18 years, been negatively affected by the shortage of water and in recent years has had no running water at all.

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As climate change specialist, Dr Donald Kamdonyo has noted recently, “climate change has been recognized as one of the biggest challenges that humanity is facing today,” and negatively affects socio-economic sectors across countries. (Malawi Gears Up to Adapt to Climate Change -September 25, 2019). As a primarily agricultural economy that has seen numerous climate-related disasters in recent years, the government of Malawi is well aware of the implications that climate change has for the population’s livelihoods and development. Climate change adaptation is a key priority for the government and numerous civil society organizations “to increase the resilience of its vulnerable population and ecosystems.”

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