A 12-member team of search and rescue (SAR) experts from the United Kingdom (UK) arrived in the country Monday.
According to the British High Commission to Malawi, the team is on a mission to train Malawian counterparts in how to respond to future floods, thereby building Malawi’s resilience to climate change-induced severe weather events.
Deputy British High Commissioner to Malawi and Development Director Olympia Wereko-Brobby welcomed the team in Lilongwe Monday.
She indicated that members of the team would offer seven-day intensive training that would attract 40 national SAR cluster participants from units such as the Malawi Defence Force, the General and Marine Police, Marine Department, Fisheries Department, Department of Disaster Management Affairs (Dodma) and Malawi Red Cross Society, among others.
“The training will target SAR strategic planners and boat operators and culminate in a live simulation exercise on Lake Malawi on 9th and 10th February,” the British High Commission to Malawi says in a writeup.
It is not the first time for the UK experts to come to the country.
They first came to Malawi in 2023 for a rescue mission in Nsanje District when the country was affected by Tropical Cyclone Freddy, which made landfall in the country on March 11 that year and killed hundreds of people and destroyed property.
They then returned in 2024 for the first flood response preparedness training.
This year, they will provide training of trainers to officers and college instructors at strategic and tactical levels to further institutionalise SAR across response services.
The deployment of the SAR experts is supported through UK’s Preparedness and Emergency Prepositioning and Response for Flood and Cyclone Events (Prepare) project with the World Food Programme and Dodma.
Under the same project, the UK is providing search and rescue equipment and ensuring Malawian response personnel are in place to assist with timely evacuations ahead of flood and cyclone events and provide lifesaving support when needed.
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