Minister of Education, Madalitso Kambauwa Wirima has today launched Forum for African Women Educationists Malawi (FAWEMA) strategic plan for 2024-2028 and the Mastercard Found Phase II project at an event held on Friday at Bingu International Convention Centre (BICC) in Lilongwe.

Speaking at the event, the minister expressed her excitement over the launch describing the initiative as a champion for young people's empowerment. She therefore urged leaders to challenge themselves and play a vital role in empowering and preparing the young people for the future as a better Malawi can only be built by investing in young people through skills development.

The minister also stated that the initiatives allign very well with the principal strategy for development in Malawi, the MW2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals. She also said the youths are the central in the equation of successful implementation of the country's vision as they form the largest part of the Malawi's population.

"We cannot build a better Malawi without deliberately investing in building a strong skills-base from our young people, including the underprivileged and those with disabilities as well as the refugees among us. As a people, we need to support FAWEMA`s efforts to give hope and a future to these young and dynamic minds," she said.

Wirima was also excited with the fact that the project has come immediately after this year's Ministry of Education Joint Sector Review (JSR) and that among others it has Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) as it's priority area.

By supporting girls in STEM at tertiary level as way of increasing the gender parity Index from 0.065 to 0.9 by the year 2030, the initiative is said to have already started responding to some of the recommendations made during the just ended JSR.

In her concluding remarks, the minister applauded FAWE, FAWEMA and the Mastercard Foundation for their commitment to supporting the efforts of the Government