COVID-19 poses real risks for the attainment of Malawi’s national development aspirations as espoused in the new long-term development Vision, Malawi 2063; as well as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In addition to declined economic activities and growth rates, COVID-19-related threats include the erosion of domestic institutional capacities; reversal of recent achievements in health and education; and reversal of trade and private sector investment streams, which had brightened in recent years. Further, social insecurity has heightened, with the evolving situation exposing various deficiencies in the healthcare system which need to be addressed urgently. Furthermore, with large numbers of job losses in the formal sector, the informal sector has ceased to play an effective role of absorbing shock for alternative livelihoods, as the latter has not been spared from the COVID-19 induced decline. Within the context of international best practice, the Socio-Economic Recovery Plan (SERP) has been developed through an extensive evidence-based consultative process that drew from recent studies on the impact of COVID-19 and the spill-over effects. Broadly, the aim of the SERP, which covers the period 2021-2023, is to enhance the capacity of Malawi and its people to effectively recover and build back better from the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; and facilitate the transition to the effective implementation and realization of its development aspirations as espoused under MW2063.