The National Initiative for Civic Education (NICE) Public Trust has said elimination of gender disparities in both public and private sectors is key to the attainment of a progressive and self-reliant Malawi.
NICE District Programmes Officer for Salima, Queen Mataya, made the remarks on Monday when this publication sought her comments on the progress Malawi has made in promoting women in all sectors of life, including politics.
With financial support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), NICE and Centre for Civil Society Strengthening (CCSS) are implementing ‘Inclusive participation of women/young women in Malawi politic (Nthawi Yawo)’ Project, which, among others, has helped in in exposing and tackling some of the norms that prohibit women from succeeding in political spaces.
The project is being implemented in Karonga, Salima and Neno while recommendations and best practices from the project have been replicated in all the districts in Malawi.
Mataya observed that while women are increasingly exercising their right to political participation, many, who aspire to political office, still find their way barred by the gender norms that see politics as a masculine space.
“For women to break even in political participation, there is a need for profound change of both mindsets and political culture. Through Malawi 2063, under the Mindset Change Enabler, it is imperative to tackle these barriers,” she said.
MIP-1 decries that “there is a general focus on negativity and pessimism among Malawians which establishes a spirit that “national transformation is impossible”.
Mataya challenged that Malawi cannot attain the much-sought after self-reliance unless the country eliminates gender disparities both in public and private sectors.
Mataya said it is against this background that Nthawi Yawo Project wants to build the capacity of women and young women to participate meaningfully to enhance effective influence on political and decision making position processes.
“We want to see more women and young women claiming and enjoying their rights to participate in leadership at different levels of the district and national levels. Specifically, this project enhances the inclusion and influence of women and young women in political party leadership and decision-making positions,” she said.
Speaking in a separate interview on Monday, Traditional Authority Maganga described Nthawi Yawo Project as timely, stating that it will help Malawians to change their perceptions towards women leaders.
Maganga said as chiefs, they have already implemented some of the recommendations from the project’s activities.
“We commend NICE and CCSS for coming up with this project. I would like to assure them that we, traditional leaders, will also play a part in eliminating harmful cultural practices,” she said.