Update: The 5th African Regional Conference on Loss and Damage concluded in Lilongwe on March 27, 2026, with urgent calls for fair climate financing. Hosted in collaboration with the Civil Society Network on Climate Change, the three-day summit gathered policymakers to address the continent's increasing climate-related costs. Addressing the delegates, Malawi's Natural Resources Minister Patricia Wiskes stressed that African nations must present a unified negotiating voice. She noted that climate shocks currently cost Malawi an estimated 1.7 percent of its GDP annually, a figure that projections show could reach up to 16 percent by 2050, according to Channel Africa.
As flood recovery continues in southern Malawi, the United Kingdom government and the World Food Programme have urged local authorities to increase investments in disaster preparedness and early warning systems. According to MBC Online, British Acting High Commissioner Ben Nicholson and World Food Programme Head of Programme Aachal Chand made the appeal during a joint field visit to Chikwawa. The district remains one of the hardest-hit areas, with recent extreme weather impacting 24,832 households. Both officials emphasised the necessity of building long-term community readiness to break the cycle of repeated emergency responses.
The European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations issued an update on March 26 detailing the ongoing humanitarian challenges caused by the mid-March heavy rains. According to the agency's disaster monitoring system, the Department of Disaster Management Affairs continues to face a significant resource gap as it distributes relief items. Authorities are currently supporting 39,000 affected households and managing 31 emergency camps established across multiple southern councils.