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This study draws on qualitative data from stakeholder workshops and key informant interviews, triangulated with national statistics, to analyze how overburdened health systems, disrupted livelihoods, and inequitable resource distribution heightened socio\u2010economic fragility. It also examines how concurrent hazards, including flooding and cholera outbreaks, interacted with the pandemic to intensify the crisis and expose limitations in Malawi's disaster risk management systems. The analysis highlights the importance of adaptive mechanisms, including urban cash transfer programs, for supporting vulnerable groups and mitigating cascading socio\u2010economic impacts during crises. Key innovations, including digital tracking tools, local production of essential supplies, and scalable social protection mechanisms, emerged as pathways for strengthening institutional resilience. The findings emphasize the need for anticipatory, multi\u2010hazard disaster risk management strategies that prioritize shock\u2010sensitive social protection and cross\u2010sectoral coordination to strengthen system\u2010wide resilience. By situating qualitative insights with documented hazard and socio\u2010economic patterns, this paper contributes to systemic risk scholarship in multi\u2010hazard, resource\u2010constrained environments.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1111\/risa.70229","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,30]],"date-time":"2026-03-30T06:42:56Z","timestamp":1774852976000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A Nation of Disasters: Lessons on Systemic Risks and Cascading Impacts From Malawi's COVID\u201019 Experience"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"46","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8339-1697","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stern Mwakalimi","family":"Kita","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Integrated Emergency Management and Business Continuity Management Division, Faculty of Resilience Rabdan Academy  Abu Dhabi UAE"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Edward","family":"Sparkes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Earth Systems and Global Change Group Wageningen University and Research  Wageningen the Netherlands"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Davide","family":"Cotti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"United Nations University \u2010 Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU\u2010EHS)  Bonn Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5254-6713","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Michael","family":"Hagenlocher","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"United Nations University \u2010 Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU\u2010EHS)  Bonn Germany"},{"name":"United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)  Bonn Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_10_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3390\/vaccines10050792"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.11604\/pamj.2021.38.69.27843"},{"key":"e_1_2_10_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Baulch B. 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