“There are people who are saying that women in public life are victimised in Malawi. Madam, I am the Minister of Gender and I cannot allow that to happen but we are also honoured to have a President who does respect the constitution as he was part and parcel of the drafters”, Said Minister Kaliati
The Minister as an example of the progress being made in Malawi said, there are women who have been in leadership positions but internal political wrangles expose them to situation of victims.
These circumstances are lessons as women politicians; we can always encounter them hence we need to always share lessons on how to manage such situations.
Malawi has made significant progress in the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Planform for Action. The priorities have been in the four areas of Poverty Alleviation and Empowerment; The Girl Child; Violence against Women; and Peace with a focus on women’s rights, international conventions, protocols and treaties that promote peace. The achievements in the priority areas have been substantial in many respects.
The proportion of women in non-agriculture employment increased between 2004 and 2013, with wage doubling from 15 percent to 30 percent. The milestone has been attributed to the improved women’s education, gender mainstreaming in the public sector and presence of private training institutions, which have increased the opportunities for further studies for women.
Under the leadership of His Excellency Dr Bingu WA Mutharika who was then the President of the Republic of Malawi in 2009, Malawi saw the rise of the first woman Vice President who later became the first female president of the country and in the SADC Region after the death of the President.
Parliamentary representation has on average continued to rise from 5.6 percent in 1994 to 22.3 percent by May 2014 with a decline in the 2014 election to16.7. Work is in progress to amendment the electoral laws to implement the provision of the Gender Equality Act of 60/40 or 40/60 of either sex.
The girl to boy ratio in primary education reached parity in the 2008/2009 school year. The highest was at 1.04:1 in 2009, but dropped to 1.01:1 in the Millennium Development Goals Endoline Survey (2014). The challenge which Malawi faces is the retention and completion of the education cycle.
At the secondary education level, Malawi experienced the highest girls’ growth levels which increased from 0.79:1 in 2009, to 0.94:1 in 2011. By 2014, Malawi had attained and surpassed gender parity in secondary school enrolment at 1.22:1 reflecting Government commitment and effort to achieve equal right to education by boys and girls.
At tertiary education level University of Malawi had already surpassed the 40:60 quarter which the Gender Equality Act No. 3 of 2013 has provided for. Malawi has created enabling legal environment which promote gender equality and women empowerment as an implementation of the provisions of the 1994 Constitution of the Republic of Malawi. The Government of Malawi has therefore enacted gender specific laws such as:
a) The Prevention of Domestic Violence Act (Chapter 7:05) of the Laws of Malawi;
b) The Child Care (Justice and Protection) Act No. 22 of 2010;
c) The Deceased Estates (Wills, Inheritance and Protection) Act No. 14 of 2011;
d) The Gender Equality Act No. 3 of 2013;
e) The Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations Act (2015);
f) The Trafficking In Persons Act (2015).
A number of policy frameworks which aim at achieving gender equality have been developed such as:
a) Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) of 2006-2011; and the MGDS II of 2011 -2016;
b) National Youth Policy of 2013;
c) National Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Policy of 2009;
d) National Strategy to Combat Gender Based Violence of 2008 – 2013;
e) National Plan of Action to Combat Gender Based Violence of 2014 – 2020;
f) National Girls Education Strategy of 2014 – 2018;
Contraceptive Prevalence Rate has also dramatically increased from 21 percent in 2000 to 58.7 percent in 2014 being very close to the MDG target of 60 percent due to innovative approaches.
Commendable progress has been made to reduce maternal mortality from 1,120 deaths/100,000 live births in 2004 to 574 deaths/100,000 live births in 2014 due to the Safe Motherhood initiatives that have been supported at presidential level across different administrations. The introduction of option B+ for pregnant women who are HIV+, has contributed significantly to the reduction in maternal mortality.
Gender equality has been made a topic which is being understood and accepted as a development strategy for both women and men. Men are advocates for gender equality as evidenced by the launch of the He or She campaign by His Excellency Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika President of the Republic of Malawi on 26th February 2015 and the men for gender equality now.
Gender budgeting has been institutionalised in the Ministry of Finance, gender budgeting mainstreaming guidelines have been provided in the Circulars issued by the Ministry of Finance for the 2013/14; and 2015/16 financial years as a key and strategic step in enhancing gender responsive budgeting.
To forester coordinated implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, the Government of Malawi facilitated the establishment of the NGO Gender Coordination Network (NGO-GCN) in 1998 as a very strong voice on gender equality and women empowerment.
In the quest to achieve gender parity, there are a number of challenges which need to be addressed like the:
Budget constraints which, limit the implementation of the programmes bearing in mind the Gender Ministry’s national budget proportion has been decreasing from 0.3 percent in 2009 to 0.9 percent in 2014.
The approval of the policies and bills has improved greatly despite the bureaucracy resulting into passing the remaining bills which promote gender equality.
The high illiteracy and low attainment of education levels among rural women continue to hamper women empowerment.
