| 1.1 |
The Government of Malawi recognises that sustainable economic and social
development of the country requires full and equal participation of women,
men, girls and boys. This National Gender Policy, therefore, is to guide
and direct at all levels the planning and implementation of development
programmes, with a gender perspective including resource allocation for
equitable national development. The policy will enhance the country's central
development objective of Poverty Eradication.
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| 1.2 |
Since 1993, the Government of Malawi adopted Women in Development (WID)
Strategy as a guide to addressing women's concerns and gender issues in
the development process. Despite the WID efforts, gender imbalances still
exist in all the sectors. These disparities are equally recognised by the
1995 Malawi Constitution, which enshrines gender equality in the national
principles. The Situation Analysis of Poverty in Malawi (1993) estimated
rural poverty at 60% and also indicated that women in rural areas are becoming
poorer..
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| 1.3 |
A critical analysis of the Malawi society shows that there are strong
traditional and cultural forces that impinge on the participation of both
men and women in development endeavours. indications are that disparities
exist between men and women in actual power sharing, participation and
control over decision-making processes-these favour men and put women in
subordinate positions.
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| 1.4 |
In the Agriculture Sector, studies show that about 70% of full time.
farmers are women. In both matrilineal and patrilineal societies, most
women do not take full control over the use and owner ship of the land.
At the same time, women's access to credit is still low at between 100%
and 15% While that of men ranges between 45% to 55%. Even in a situation
where a woman has accessed credit, the control over its use rests With
the man. The Situation Analysis of Poverty and other studies indicate that
extension and training services favour men, due to male dominance in the
profession and cultural orientation.
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| 1.5 |
The health status of the 10alawian population is generally low, as
indicated by high maternal mortality rate (620/loo,000), high infant mortality
rate (13 3/1,000) and low life expectancy at birth, Which is at 44 years.
While access to health facilities family planning services is reasonably
good, certain cultural practices and beliefs inhibit women's. The
Demographic and Health Survey access to these health services the family
hat over one third of women enter (D.H.S) (1992), indicates over one third
of women enter the family formation pathway under the age of 20. This has
serious implication on teenage abortions, problems related to early pregnancies
and childbirth. The health situation of women is exacerbated by the high
prevalence of.HIV/AIDS, which currently is estimated at one million Malawians
being HIV Positive. This is out of the total population of 9.8 million
as per the 1998 Housing and Population Census. |
| 1.6 |
Adult female illiteracy is estimated at 71% while that o" men is 52%,
Gross enrolment ratio between girls and boys at primary level is currently
almost -1:1, but the dropout rate of girls is still high compared to boys,
so that in the final year of primary school only 25% of the students are
girls. At the same time the transition rate of girls into secondary and
tertiary education is still low. A different picture emerges at secondary
level where boys dropout more. An apparent lack of career guidance, particularly,
for girls, perpetuates their choice of women traditional professions. In
addition curricula in the institutions have not been made fully gender
sensitive. |
| 1.7 |
The Malawi Constitution provides for the protection of the rights of
both men and women. The social and cultural practices and mis-interpretation
of the democratic dispensation infringe on the rights of women. For example,
violence against women in the public and work places has, been on the increase.
Inheritance on deceased estate does not favour women. This situation is
worsened by limited capacity of the law enforcement machinery and limited
knowledge amongst both women and men about their rights. |
| 1.8 |
There is uneven gender distribution of the labour force in the formal
and informal employment. The situation. Analysis of Poverty in Malawi
indicates that in 1985, women constituted 16% of the formal wage employment.
The situation has not changed much over the years. The implication has
been low representation of women in decision-making positions. For example,
in July 1999 out of 193 Members of Parliament only 17 were female, four
of 28 ministers were women, and there were only two female Judges. The
barriers for accessing to formal employment include: severe time and labour
constraints due to child bearing, child care and household responsibilities,
limited levels of education and technical training in comparison to males
and societal and employer attitudes towards women |
| 1.9 |
In Malawi, women also face low, nutritional status at household level
as compared to men, despite the fact that, they are the main producers
and processors of food. Cultural practices militate against women over
control of cash income thereby contributing to household food insecurity.
These practices also force women to deny themselves food in the right quantity,
and quality in favour of male adults and children. In most cases this seriously
compromises their nutritional status.
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| 1.10 |
Malawi has ratified a number of international Declarations and
Conventions including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women (1987), the Earth Summit of Rio de Janeiro
(1992), The International Conference on Nutrition (1992), the Convention
on the Rights of the Child (1991),the Human Rights Conference in Vienna
(1993), the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo
(1994), the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen (1995), World
Food Summit in Rome (1996) and the Fourth World Conference on Women In
Beijing (1995). The National Gender Polic)/ takes cognisance of these
UN Conventions and aims at harmonising them with the national policies
and laws.
The gender disparities as highlighted, limit women's participation in
and benefiting from the development process despite government efforts
of pursuing the WID strategy. Hence, the focus of this policy on gender
as a development concept is to guide the participation of women and men,
in economic, political, and social-cultural development.
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