The Board of Directors for the Phalombe Youth Arms Organisation (PYAO) has approved the 2025-2030 PYAO strategic plan, which replaces the old one that expired in 2023. The approval was made on Saturday, 27th September 2025, during the board’s quarterly meeting held in Phalombe District.
Among other goals, the new strategic plan aims to strengthen economic empowerment for young people and women, as well as enhance their resilience to climate change and promote environmental sustainability. The plan also seeks to improve the health and well-being of youth, particularly adolescent girls and young women, in terms of health and nutrition. Additionally, it will help increase access to and retention in quality education for young people, while also strengthening social welfare and protection for vulnerable groups.
The Board of Directors also scrutinised the financial reports for the three quarters of 2025 and reviewed the financial audit reports for 2024.
In a move to ensure the organisation is visible in all areas of the country, the board has approved a rebranding exercise for the organisation, with preparations almost complete.
The Chairperson of the board, Christopher Misuku, stated after the meeting that through the new strategic plan, the organisation aims to serve the general public, especially vulnerable communities such as young people and women.
“In the next five years, we want to see the livelihoods of the people we serve, particularly youth and women, improved. We are planning to implement various programmes and initiatives that ensure their economic empowerment. As you are aware, Phalombe, where our offices are located, is a disaster-prone district that experiences various disasters almost every year. Therefore, we need to implement programmes that enhance resilience to climate change while also ensuring environmental sustainability,” he said.
In his remarks, PYAO’s Executive Director, Vincent Makuluni Thom, emphasised that the organisation will rely heavily on community-led solutions to address the problems facing the people, ensuring the sustainability of all initiatives carried out in line with the strategic plan.
“As PYAO, we will continue working with the community from the beginning to the end. Through the programmes we will implement with support from different partners, we will ensure that they are people-centred and led by the communities themselves for greater success and sustainability,” he said.
