We exist to help coordinate, support and represent Scotland's many civic links with Malawi.
The Scotland Malawi Partnership (SMP) is the national civil society network coordinating, supporting and representing the people-to-people links between our two nations. We represent a community of 109,000 Scots with active links to Malawi.
We are a membership organisation which anyone in Scotland with an interest in Malawi can join. We are non-governmental and politically neutral. We exist to support our members and we are led by members.
Our Vision
To inspire and support Scottish society to work in solidarity with the people of Malawi in an informed, co-ordinated, and equitable way – ever mindful of the legacy of colonial rule - for the benefit of both nations.
Our Mission
- Embrace a just approach to global development, promoting mutually beneficial civil society partnerships to help address the primary challenges facing Malawi
- Develop the SMP as an inclusive national network, in which all feel welcome to contribute, including diaspora communities and under-represented groups.
- Encourage and support children and young people to play a full role in the partnership between our two nations so that they can deepen and expand it for the future.
- Develop practical and sustainable solutions that will have a positive impact on Malawi society, through our own activity and by influencing the policies and actions of governments and institutions.
- Support our members and Scottish civil society to gain a deeper understanding of Malawi’s development priorities and policies and how they can work in support of these.
- Act as a forum for encouraging best practice through sharing information and reciprocal learning and the provision of relevant training
- Better understand and constructively challenge the power imbalance which exists between our two nations, and advance our cultural, political and economic understanding.
- Work with our sister network in Malawi, the Malawi Scotland Partnership (MaSP) to optimise our collective impact.
- Demonstrate the relevance of Scotland’s civil society contribution to the attainment of the Government of Malawi’s ‘Vision 2063’ and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Our work is underpinned by our Partnership Principles and guided by our core values of mutual respect and solidarity.
We have a diverse membership, including local authorities, most Scottish universities and colleges, primary and secondary schools, dozens of different churches and faith-based groups, hospitals, charities and NGOs, and a wide range of grass-root community-based organisations. Our membership permeates almost all aspects of Scottish civil society.
We work to harness experience, expertise and enthusiasm across Scotland and provide forums where ideas, activities and information can be shared between our members.
Our work isn't just about 'international development', with donors on one side and recipients on the other. It's about partnership, about joint working, and about friendship.
Our project is to build connections and collaboration on a multi-sectoral basis between two small nations in ways that are transformational for both. There is no template for doing this. So far as we know, we are the first to develop this model of partnership.
Learn more about the Scotland Malawi Partnership in Rev Prof Kenneth Ross' booklet 'Friendship with a Purpose'.