Catherine Phiri, who has died around the age of 40, learned in 1990, after the death of her husband, that she was HIV positive. She could have done what everybody else did in Malawi at that time, and hidden the knowledge from her family, friends and colleagues. Instead, she defied stigma and discrimination and became one of the first people in her country to go public about her illness. Her death deprives the organisation she founded to help thousands of Aids orphans of a role model and visionary leader, but those who worked with her say there is no doubt that it will carry on her work.

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said last Wednesday there was a need for people involved with refugees and asylum seekers to be equipped with necessary skills that can help them spot terrorists wishing to enter Malawi under the guise of asylum seeking. Speaking in an interview in Mzuzu at a stakeholders meeting on the asylum seeking process in Malawi, UNHCR resident chief of mission Michael Owor said there was a need to train immigration officers, the police, religious and traditional leaders.