I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh….and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. — Joel 2:28b, 29-30
Former UN Women Malawi Country Director, Alice Shackelford, was all joy and jubilant celebratory mode when she twitted “Fantastic! The first Malawi female speaker of the House Hon. Catherine Gothani Hara! And Hon. Aisha Mambo as second deputy speaker! Gender equality, change and leadership!” Her counterpart, current UN Women Country Director, Clara Anyangwe responded: “Hey @aliceshackel, you laid a great foundation for @unwomenmalawi. You started the office from scratch!
Join, we heartily do, because the path to such wins are usually long, they are winding, and often with a lot of machinations in the background. I trust you will excuse women in Malawi and beyond, if the celebratory dust refuses to settle down.
In July 2010, the United Nations General Assembly created UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, to address gender imbalance challenges both at UN headquarters and indeed every community in the world
In establishing UN Women, “UN Member States took an historic step in accelerating the Organization’s goals on gender equality and the empowerment of women. Created in the process of the UN reform agenda, the new entity brought together resources and mandates for greater impact.p as it merged and built on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system, which focused exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment:
Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW);
2. International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW);
3. Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI); and
4. United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).
It is with great joy that Malawi was represented in both the formative stages. This was a two-year long process in which Ambassador Steve Matenje impressed upon me as the Social Development and Human Rights Expert at the Malawi Mission to the UN, should attend all the meeting. I attended these twice-weekly lunch time meetings of like-minded Member States such as the UK, USA, Swaziland, Tanzania, France, Germany, China, Spain, Italy, Singapore, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Chile and others; our efforts were augmented by a truckload of gender NGOs accredited to the UN.
The original mandate was to set up offices in every country in the world that is a member of the United Nations, however funding the agency’s work met a steep block to the ambitious plan. Thus while sitting in a UN Women Executive Board meeting in June 2012 (where I’d just been approved as the 2013 Executive Board Vice President, representing Africa region), I noticed Malawi was not one of the countries targeted for an office in the Africa region. So I quickly sent a text message to my Ambassador/Permanent Representative Brian Bowler to let him know that I was going to speak on Malawi’s behalf to ask for a reconsideration.
His response was “Go ahead, you have my full support;” he quickly sent another text “please keep Dr. Mary Shaba at Gender Ministry, informed.”
When I raised my plaque requesting to speak I said on behalf of Malawi:
“I note with concern that the footprint outlay for UN Women does not include my country Malawi. I wish to bring to the attention of the Executive Board that when he attended the January 2012 African Union Summit, then AU Chairman and Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika met with the leadership of UN Women. He impressed upon her the arduous task facing Malawi in relation to gender equality. And the leadership agreed that UN Women would set an office and would endeavor to help Malawi with the challenges it faces in gender equality.
“I wish to inform this Board that sadly for Malawi we lost our President on April 5, this year due to a heart attack (May God rest his soul in peace); however, Malawi now has its first woman President Dr. Joyce Banda. I wish it let the Board know and appreciate that apart from inheriting the challenges of Denver inequality, these may escalating for our new President.
“Could the UN Board please reconsider its decision on the Africa roadmap to also include Malawi. Please help your fellow woman by opening an office in Malawi?”
The UN Women management team, made up of Executive Director (former Chile President) Michele Bachelet, Deputy Executive Director (Operations) Laksmir Puri, and Deputy Executive Director (Administration) John Hendra, conferred and came back with music to my ears.
“Management has considered the request from the Malawi delegate, we are pleased to inform that UN Women will establish an office in Malawi,” the Executive Director informed the Board.
I quickly texted both Ambassador Bowler and Dr. Shaba of the news. But my flag was up again; this time it was to ask when the Malawi Government should expect UN Women to be in the country.
Another three minute management tete-a-tete, Madame Bachelet came back with a “please let your government know that UN Women office would be opened by the end of this year (2012).
In mid-August 2012 an urgent phone call from UN Women headquarters in New York called me to ask when the office could expect the Malawi government to approve the new Malawi UN Women Country Director Alice Shackelford. Apparently she was “stranded in Nigeria and could not leave to go to Malawi without the Agrément.
I thank God for friends in high places, when I called my former Deputy Permanent Representative Roslyn Makhmula, she told me that the Foreign Affairs (MOFA) was working on Ms Shackelford background check. She made some inquiries and two weeks later the MOFA sent a letter to UN Women marked (To be Hand Delivered by Mrs. Janet Zeenat Karim).
Ambassador Bowler gave me his representational car to deliver the letter. With Alice Shackelford in Malawi as Country Director, UN Women offices officially opened and set up for its work in September 2012. In its eight-year lifetime, UN Women has joined a vigorous UN System team, conducted numerous campaigns, among them ending child marriage, ending gender based violence, holding workshops, sensitization drives, marches, photo opportunities among other. However from New York headquarters, the most notable difference of having UN Women in residence in Malawi, was the increase of delegates to important gender meetings such as the all-important three week annual March Commission on the Status of Women meeting; also notable is the fact that Malawi now organizes side meetings along the margins of these important UN conferences.
It is fitting and proper that the first UN Women Malawi Country Director dances for the election of Malawi’s first female Speaker of Parliament, coupled in the same vote with Aisha Adams as Second Deputy Speaker. It is without doubt that I advance state that CGH and AD will do resounding work in their positions, although it is also doubtless that they may face tendencies undermine their execution of tasks.
There is a sure win-win-win when women support women, women elect women, and women work with women.
Long live genuine democracy!
