The Malawi Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) Alliance has bemoaned the slow pace at which the country is moving towards reaching out to key populations such as sex workers and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI+) community.

Malawi SRHR Alliance said this in Lilongwe during a two-day media orientation on Sexual Orientation and Gender and Expression (SOGIE) reporting.

The alliance’s member organisation, Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), journalists have a critical role to play in bringing to attention challenges the key population go through.

“We have done so much as a country in terms of making sure that all people especially young people are able to access these services, however we have not done much un terms of reaching to key populations and other vulnerable groups like the LGBTI+ community, sex workers and others.

“So this trained was aimed at sensitising journalists to appreciate the gaps that are there especially in terms of reaching to key populations in this country and help us to ensure that issues to do with key populations are actually brought to the attention of policy makers in this country, “said Michael Kaiyatsa, CHRR`s Executive Director.

The meeting draw together journalists from different media houses across the country.

Kaiyatsa also added that there has been increase of cases of Gender Based Violence (GBV) and the sexual workers together with minority groups like LGBTI+ community were not spared, their rights have been infringed upon during this pandemic.