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Community Rise Organisation

About

Community Rise Organisation

Since its inception, CRO has been committed to empowering marginalized women, youth, and children by addressing systemic barriers to education, health, economic empowerment, gender equality, and community resilience. The organization employs an integrated, community-centered approach to ensure lasting impact and sustainability in its programming.

The Challenges We Address

Poverty

Mulanje records a poverty rate of 54.8% and Blantyre 43.9%, while the Southern Region as a whole has one of the highest poverty levels in Malawi (68.1%). This poverty limits access to education, health services, and sustainable livelihoods.

Gender-Based Violence (GBV)

Nationally, 34% of women experience physical or sexual violence, with 42% of women aged 15–49 reporting intimate partner violence. In Blantyre, IPV prevalence is even higher, with 50% among HIV-positive perinatal women. GBV contributes to school dropout, early marriage, trauma, and reduced opportunities for women and girls.

Climate Change

Over 80% of Malawians depend on rain-fed agriculture, leaving them highly vulnerable to floods, droughts, and cyclones. Cyclone Freddy (2023) devastated Blantyre and Mulanje, causing hundreds of deaths, destroying crops, and displacing thousands. Climate disasters threaten food security, livelihoods, and Malawi’s development goals.

Climate Change

ver 80% of Malawians depend on rain-fed agriculture, leaving them highly vulnerable to floods, droughts, and cyclones. Cyclone Freddy (2023) devastated Blantyre and Mulanje, causing hundreds of deaths, destroying crops, and displacing thousands. Climate disasters threaten food security, livelihoods, and Malawi’s development goals.

CRO exists to break the cycle of poverty, inequality, and vulnerability by empowering marginalized women, youth, and children. We leverage community strengths—including solidarity groups, traditional leadership structures, and indigenous knowledge—to co-create solutions that are people-driven, inclusive, and sustainable.

Currently CRO operates in two districts where in have its offices, namely: Blantyre and Mulanje districts in Southern Malawi. Our scaling pathway builds on addressing poverty, gender-based violence (GBV), climate change, and systemic exclusion, while leveraging community strengths to deliver sustainable, inclusive solutions.

Our Vission

A community where marginalized women and youth thrive and reach their full potential

Our Mission

To empower marginalized women, youth, and children by providing equal access to essential needs, comprehensive support services, and diverse opportunities for personal and community development.
Core Values
    • Humility
    • Transparency and accountability
    • Inclusiveness
    • Independence
    • Divinity
    • Equity
Target Beneficiaries and Thematic Areas

  • Primary Target Groups: Marginalized women, youth, children, and persons with disabilities in rural Malawi.

Approaches and Strategies

  • CRO employs an integrated, community-driven, and rights-based approach to programming. The organization strengthens community structures, builds local capacity, promotes advocacy, and fosters partnerships for sustainable development

What we do

Thematic Focus Areas

CRO integrates its interventions across several focus areas to maximize impact

EDUCATION & YOUTH EMPOWERMENT

  • Supporting girls’ education, preventing early marriages, and promoting early childhood development.

HEALTH AND WELLBEING

  • Providing rehabilitation services, nutrition, Sexual and reproductive health information and services including HIV and AIDS  and mental health support for children

INSTITUTIONAL STRENGTHENING

  • Building CHICOSUDO’s systems, staff capacity, and strategic partnerships to deliver at greater scale and sustain long-term community transformation.

ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT

  • Scaling vocational, entrepreneurship, and financial inclusion programs through Savings and Internal Lending Community groups (SILC), a revolving loan fund, and business incubation and Climate-Smart Agriculture,

GENDER EQUALITY & GBV PREVENTION

  • Expanding GBV awareness,  and community prevention mechanisms to create safer, gender-equal communities.