In January 2015, a national disaster was declared after floods left 2.8 million people in need of relief. As the aid response was underway, El Niño-related droughts devastated harvests. Another national disaster was declared in April 2016, with 6.5 million people requiring aid – prompting the largest humanitarian response in Malawi’s history. However, the Government of Malawi and development partners recognize that emergency responses are not a sustainable solution to address vulnerability.
This Policy Note offers a synopsis of a study, detailed in Working Paper 24, which qualitatively assessed the emergency response by exploring community perspectives on resilience and aid support. This beneficiary-centered approach explored socially-defined concepts of resilience, associated coping strategies, norms, and political dynamics affecting programs.
Authors: Amy Margolies, Kenan Kalagho, and Cynthia Kazembe, 2019.
Click here to download and read the full Policy Note (355 KB).
