Malawian Reaches 2022 Miss Africa-UK Pageantry Grand-final

BY: DRAXON MALOYA

A Malawian, Fatuma Sikwese, is one of the finalists in the inaugural Miss Africa UK which is run by Africa-UK pageant and Women Empowerment.

However, the programme is not the usual standard beauty pageant organisation but a real-life showcase of women in Great Britain and it is the first and only Miss/Mrs Africa-UK.

Confirming her participation, Sikwese said the event is more than the physical appearance and age but incorporates the wholesomeness of a woman, and looks at things such as character, and impact on the community.

“The purpose of me being part of this, is to gain confidence in myself and also have an impact on my community by raising awareness about autism being a mother of an autistic child, it’s been my heart’s desire to bring awareness as I feel there’s a lot that needs to be addressed.

“My goal also is to reach out to people in Malawi and support families who have children with autism, I have been wanting to set up the yet to be launched, Yonkho Foundation last year but now I believe is the perfect time being a finalist in Miss/Mrs Africa – UK,” said Sikwese.

On Tuesday afternoon Sikwese was on Alice Talk-show in England in a bid to raise awareness and fundraise for the Autism Society of United Kingdom as per requirement to all finalists to take at least a challenge in any charity of one’s choice.
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According to a recent report of a study conducted by the Centre for Social Research (CSR) with the support from UNICEF states that disability in children arises from diseases and thereby is preventable, stem from the prevalence rate among children (below 18 years) and these children’s access to social services.

“It is worth noting that according to the study, a significant proportion (48.7%) of disabilities presented by this calls for early identification, assessment and intervention in programming that are collaboratively integrated and multi-sectoral” reads part of the report.

It also recommends that in future, it would be imperative for data sets informing these situation analyses to respectively harmonize labeling of disability conditions in their works which will consequently shape the skill demand training relevant for effective intervention of those labels.