Malawi Red Cross Society

Malawi Red Cross Society (MRCS) was established by Chapter 18:09 of the Laws of Malawi by Parliament in 1966 (Act 51) as a humanitarian organisation with established presence across all Government administrative districts. It became a member of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in 1971. Giving hope to those in need is the vision for Malawi Red Cross Society pivotal to the organizations interventions and its mission is to alleviate human suffering and improve quality of life of vulnerable people through humanitarian Aid, relief, short term and long-term development, partnerships, engagement and dissemination of the movement’s fundamental principles. The Malawi Red Cross Society was originally established as a relief organization. However, over the years the Society has diversified and strengthened its programming portfolio to blend development aspects in its humanitarian interventions. MRCS has an organizational structure covering governance and management levels to support the implementation of its mandate. At governance level, the council is the highest body comprising of representatives/council members from 28 Divisions, one in each of the 28 government administrative districts of the country. This body is responsible for policy direction. The National Executives Committee (NEC) is elected by the council to ensure that policies endorsed are implemented accordingly with the leadership of the president. Under the NEC, are division and sub division committees that derive from a network of over 85,000 volunteer members across the country. At management level, the Secretary General is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who reports to the NEC The functions of the secretariat are sub divided into programs and services. Programs include Disaster Management, Health and Care and Branch Development. Services include Planning, Quality & Learning, Finance, Transport, Human Resource, Information etc.