UK Minister Anneliese Dodds Embarks on a Transformative Visit to Malawi

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    The UK’s Minister for Development and Women & Equalities, Rt Honourable Anneliese Dodds, began her three-day visit to Malawi yesterday, 9 December 2024. During her visit, the Minister is focusing on driving economic growth, which is at the heart of the UK government’s new approach to development.

    The Minister is seeing the fruits of the strong UK-Malawi partnership in spearheading education reform through a visit to a school on the outskirts of Lilongwe city. Rt Honourable Dodds is also engaging with partners on tackling the impact of climate change and environmental degradation in Malawi. She is seeing how the UK’s work is helping vulnerable communities tackle deforestation and climate change in a cost-effective, practical way and providing critical support ahead of the rainy season.

    Rt Honourable Minister Dodds is also having bilateral meetings with several senior members of government to discuss how the UK and Malawi will continue to build together a long-term and modern partnership based on shared priorities like inclusive economic growth, tackling climate change, and good governance.

    Commenting on the visit, British High Commissioner to Malawi, Ms Fiona Ritchie, said: “I am delighted that Minister Dodds is visiting Malawi to see for herself the fruits of the long relationship between our two countries. During her visit, the Minister is highlighting the UK government’s new approach to development, working in partnership with Malawi to tackle global challenges and drive inclusive economic growth.”

    Dr. Thomas Bisika, the Malawi High Commissioner to the UK, also commented; “We feel greatly honoured, as a country, that Malawi is among the very few countries that the UK Development Minister will be visiting within her first year in office. This will give the Minister an opportunity to witness, first hand, what the UK-Malawi Partnership has been able to accomplish over the years.”

    Rt Honourable Anneliese Dodds is a British Labour and Co-operative politician and public policy analyst. She has been serving as the Minister of State for Development and Minister of State for Women and Equalities since July 2024. Dodds has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Oxford East since 2017 and previously served as the Chair of the Labour Party from 2021 to 2024. She was also the first woman to hold the position of Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from April 2020 to May 2021.