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Women empowerment programs in Malawi

There are several programs and projects on women empowerment in Malawi. These programs are implemented by the government as well as NGOs. The government has an overarching program on women economic empowerment which is managed in the Ministry of Gender Children, Disability and Social Welfare.

Extension workers have been trained in various business management and other business-related skills through different projects that were being implemented by the ministry over the years. Some of the programs with a specific focus on women empowerment in Malawi are highlighted below.

angle-left National Association of Business Women

National Association of Business Women

National Association of Business Women (NABW) is participating in a Green and Inclusive Energy (GIE) project entitled “Promoting inclusive development through the provision of modern, reliable and affordable energy solutions in Malawi’. NABW is collaborating in a six-member consortium which is implementing this project.

Its responsibility is to establish and coordinate a Gender and Energy platform in Malawi that will act as a knowledge hub to raise awareness about the importance of gender equity and harnessing opportunities for women in the energy sector. Through the project, NABW is pushing for productive use of clean energy among business women, promoting renewable energy as a business opportunity that women entrepreneurs can exploit and building capacities among stakeholders for their participation in the energy sector. 

 

Activities

Under the program NABW organises public events on a quarterly basis at grassroots and national levels. The activities include:

 

(a) At grassroots level

  • Training women in energy technologies like solar lanterns, solar systems, and chitetedzo mbaula (cooking stove) and liquefied petroleum gas
  • Training youths on advocacy in green and inclusive energy
  • Promoting awareness of gender and energy issues through drama, dances and song
  • Solution seeking dialogues with stakeholders at district level

    To further push the agenda on increased participation of women in energy undertakings at district level and move it to a national level, NABW also engaged women parliamentarians in solution seeking dialogues, whose commitment was to build capacities in clean cooking stoves production and distribution, including policy advocacy.

(b) At national level

  • Participating in national events on green financing and renewable energy issues for example;  Energy Summit 2018, Launch of Women in Sustainable Energy funded by EU and implemented by Christian Aid 2018, National Clean Cook stove camp 2019 etc
  • Research and developing strategies for enhancing gender and social inclusivity in energy access
  • Training to strengthen women business in energy sector (women from all regions)
  • Conducting regional (provincial) gender mainstreaming workshops for government, non-governmental organizations and private sector in all three administrative regions in Malawi
  • Registration of women in energy sector (created a database for all women in energy)

Coverage

The program is national, and its benefits include:

o Enhanced gender awareness on energy policy through dialogue meetings;

o Increased participation of women and youths in national energy planning, investments and supply chains and;

o Improved multi-stakeholder engagement in addressing clean energy access and distribution.

The target group is all NABW members.

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