Search
  1. Home
  2. Southern Africa
  3. Malawi
  • News

AIDS threatens SADC democracy

    JOHANNESBURG
    Malawi's Electoral Commission on Thursday called on the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to investigate the impact of HIV/AIDS on the region's voters. The commission said the pandemic was already making it difficult to assess voter turn-outs in Malawi. "The number of registered voters on the voters' roll is not a true reflection of what is on the ground," electoral commissioner, Monica Ngwembe, told the UN news service PlusNews. Ngwembe said the lack of proper records of deaths to compare with the voters' roll, created the potential for voting abuses. She added that HIV/AIDS also impacted on the running of elections, due to skills being lost when electoral staff died of AIDS-related illnesses.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

    Share this article

    Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

    We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

    Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

    Become a member of The New Humanitarian

    Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

    Join