On 22 March 2022, Malawi’s Parliament chalked a milestone by passing the Peace and Unity Bill. Albeit debate on the necessity of the bill, Parliament passed the bill that relates to an essential feature of democracy and sustainable development: peace.   The bill provides for establishment of a legislative framework for promoting peace and unity in Malawi in a coordinated, collaborative and structured manner in order to achieve political prosperity and sustainable socio-economic development.   The bill is a culmination of extensive stakeholder consultations dating back to 2013 that also birthed the National Peace Policy adopted by the government in August 2017.   Is the Peace and Unity Bill necessary? This is the burning question that has been hovering around for months since the draft of the bill was released.   Malawi has been a peaceful and stable country for many decades. But experience teaches us that the human family can never rest on its laurels when it comes to safeguarding peace and stability, and making them more permanent features of a democratic society.   Since 1964, Malawi has relied on non-violent and traditional means of resolving disputes, managing conflicts and maintaining peace. The country’s enviable record of holding at least five mainly peaceful general elections, and three peaceful transfers of power between opposing political parties makes Malawi a shining example in the region and globally.   For Malawi to keep up with this good tradition, Malawi’s mechanisms for resolving differences and conflicts need to be stronger, more inclusive and deeply entrenched for the country to continue enjoying long-term stability and lasting peace. This is why the United Nations welcomes Malawi Parliament’s passing of the Peace and Unity Bill that builds on the National Peace Policy adopted four years ago.   As alluded to in the policy, some peace issues require close attention by a Peace and Unity Commission that the bill proposes to establish. These include strengthening legal and policy frameworks for dialogue, addressing political patronage, patrimonialism, political tensions, advancing respect for cultural and religious diversity, ensuring equal access to development and opportunities, including for women and youth, and many more.   Conflict prevention is increasingly getting recognized as a rational and cost-effective strategy for countries that face risks of violence. The efforts to enact a law on peace and unity, therefore, give Malawi leverage to build national capacities for conflict prevention where homegrown solutions are dominant discourses in peacebuilding.   Efforts to create national institutions like the Peace and Unity Commission also demonstrate Malawi’s commitment to international and regional agreements which underline the need for coordination in peacebuilding and the establishment of national institutions for the prevention, management, and resolution of conflicts such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which encourages strengthening of national institutions at all levels to prevent violence and promote peace under SDG16.   As it has been demonstrated in countries such as Ghana, a Malawi Peace and Unity Commission would offer a platform for consultation and cooperation among main stakeholders to promote reconciliation, tolerance, trust and confidence-building, mediation, and dialogue.   Ghana’s National Peace Council has been responsive to a wide range of challenges and has mediated or facilitated dialogues on diverse issues. The proposed Malawi Peace and Unity Commission promises to be a fundamental structure that would foster collaborative partnerships for peacebuilding and conflict transformation across the government, civil society, and different actors to sustain peace in Malawi.   Sustaining a resilient and peaceful Malawi requires having in place a functional structure that builds constructive social relationships and institutions to resolve conflicts through dialogue. Such a mechanism enables a deeper understanding of how and where tensions may arise and creates room for effective response before tensions erupt into violent conflicts.   Peace benefits everyone, and needs stronger institutions to protect and nurture it by continuously addressing all root causes and drivers of tensions and conflicts.   Written by Mr. Shigeki Komatsubara   The author is the UN Resident Coordinator (ad interim) and UNDP Resident Representative in Malawi.

The Minister of Finance, Honourable Sosten Gwengwe, has urged stakeholders in the country to focus on Sustainable Development Goals that will help in laying solid foundations for achieving an inclusively wealthy and self-reliant industrialised nation. Speaking when he launched the National Voluntary Review (VNR) of the agenda 2030 in Lilongwe, held under the theme: Reviewing Malawi’s readiness to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, Honourable Gwengwe said he was pleased to note that Malawi is reviewing all 17 SDGs to appreciate the level of progress and effort in achieving them. The United Nations encourages countries conducting National Voluntary Reviews to mainly focus on five SDGs. “It is pleasing to note that Malawi is reviewing all 17 SDGs to track milestones regarding the achievement of the Goals. I urge all stakeholders to fully own the process and ensure citizens are involved,” said Gwengwe. Speaking earlier, United Nations Resident Coordinator a.i. Shigeki Komatsubara applauded the Malawi Government for undertaking the second VNR in a space of two years, after 2020, saying it demonstrates Malawi’s commitment to achieving the SDGs. “The Malawi Government has shown great commitment in its efforts to effectively implement the agenda 2030 and achieve the SDGs, we are fully committed to support the process to ensure Malawi delivers a credible VNR,” said Komatsubara. The UN Resident Coordinator a.i. said technical support from the United Nations system is being provided through the Monitoring and Evaluation Advisory Group (MEAG). “The MEAG is providing relevant information collected from the UN family, supporting the development of data collection tools, and is helping to review the inputs collected during the consultations and just like the last VNR, the UN system is happy to assist the government in accessing available regional and global resources that will strengthen the VNR process in Malawi,” he said.   Komatsubara added that the UN system has already mobilized around USD 86,000 to help with the consultations, data collection and analysis and other logistical processes. He said the UN will also avail its technical expertise to support the government in undertaking public consultations and engagement across different stakeholders including local leaders, chiefs, faith-based organisations and their leaders, youth, women and children, communities, Persons with Disabilities, and refugees. Voluntary National Review is a mechanism for tracking progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the national level and reporting on them at the global level annually, specifically at the High-Level Political Forum under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council. Malawi will present its second Voluntary National Review (VNR) Report on progress around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the 2022 High-Level Political Forum in July this year.

It’s a sunny Tuesday morning in Boyole Village, 25km north of Kasungu district in Central Malawi. The rainy season in the tobacco-growing district is blighted by a prolonged heatwave that makes long walks unbearable for many, but Egrita Phiri appears undeterred. The mother of seven is returning from her maize field when she hears a branded van playing hit songs and messages on the importance of getting vaccinated against COVID-19. She promptly waves the vaccination express to stop under a mango tree by her house. “There is no better time to protect myself,” she says: “With this, I don’t have to endure long travels in the scorching sunshine or pay for transport to get vaccinated.” As community health workers write down her background information in a register and on a green card, more villagers arrive to get vaccinated. A story of love Some 15 more people got vaccinated by the time the team deployed by Kasungu District Health Office with support from UNICEF Malawi and Kamuzu College of Health Sciences departed for the next stop. UNICEF is also supporting safe storage and distribution of the vaccines the Government of Malawi acquires through the COVAX facility backed by the World Health Organisation. “I am now vaccinated to protect myself and my family from the current and future COVID-19 waves. Surely, I wouldn’t have been vaccinated if the van had not come close to home,” Egrita says. For the wife of village chief Boyole, protecting one another is a love story. “No one is safe until we all get vaccinated,” she said after getting the first jab of AstraZeneca. She is due for the second in March. Her husband got the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine in August at Kasungu District Hospital. The couple first heard of the COVID-19 vaccination on the radio in March 2021 when Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera publicly got his first shot, kick-starting the nationwide campaign. “That showed me the vaccine was safe, but it wasn’t easily accessible,” says the woman whose desire to get vaccinated was ramped up by deaths of over 2 000 Malawians, including two ministers and four lawmakers. The third and deadliest wave forced the government to turn a presidential palace and a stadium into emergency hospitals to lessen pressure on the healthcare system. “COVID-19 doesn’t choose, so my husband did well to protect himself. I have been hearing health workers on the radio saying most of those hospitalised or dying from the virus are those who shun the vaccine. I need to be healthy to take care of my family, crops and the community,” she explains. Symbol of acceptance Egrita’s husband, Group Village Headman Boyole is happy that his wife is no longer a symbol of vaccine hesitancy. He considers the jab as the single most important weapon against the virus, which has claimed over 2000 lives in Malawi. He states: “After three futile trips to Kasungu District Hospital, which cost about K10 000 (about $12), I received the vaccine together on 23 August 2021 to protect myself, my family and my people. “I wish I had done it in my village for my people to learn from me. The vaccine is safe and my wife was motivated because it didn’t kill me. Bringing it closer to those who need is increasing the number of those getting vaccinated and the understanding that it is safe for everyone.” The vaccinators also address questions face-to-face, clarifying fears, myths and misconceptions. This excites GVH Boyole, who publicly talks about the dangers of COVID-19 and the benefits of the free vaccines, including during meetings and funerals. “Every adult should protect themselves,” he says. “With the express vaccination van, no one bears any financial cost or hardships to get vaccinated. Instead of going to them, the health workers are coming to us.” Mercy Tchale, one of 16 health surveillance assistants at Dwangwa Health Centre, was accustomed to promoting sanitation and hygiene, family planning, immunisation for children aged below five and monitoring their growth curve. However, COVID-19 has pushed her to the frontline where she now promotes preventive measures and administers vaccines to communities surrounding the rural health facility. “The pandemic challenges us to embrace innovative ideas to protect our people and the understaffed health sector from being overwhelmed,” she says. The community health worker assures everyone that COVID-19 vaccines are like any other—a shot at a healthy life in a world struggling with contagious diseases. She explains: “The number of people who were coming to the health facility to get vaccinated was fewer than 20 a day, but now we are vaccinating over 100 when we go to them. “This is a no mean achievement. Clearly, people no longer have to stop doing activities that bring food to their homes and travel long to get vaccinated.” Tackling misinformation Joseph Chitsime, coordinator of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) in Kasungu, is excited that the mobile teams have helped clear doses that would have expired on New Year's eve. The team vaccinates in a day the count they once did in eight days, he says. “Before we rolled out the vaccination express on 7 November 2021, we were lucky if 40 people came to get vaccinated in all our health facilities. Now our four teams vaccinate 250 to 300 a day,” explains Chitsime. The express vaccination team includes health promoters who spread accurate messages about the vaccine, HSAs who go door-to-door and stop in strategic places to vaccinate those who are willing and community leaders who mobilise their people.” Original Source

The First Lady of the Republic of Malawi Monica Chakwera has called for more innovative and strategic ways of supporting girls that are withdrawn from early marriages if Malawi is to move towards great milestones in the fight against violence against the girl child. Chakwera made the remarks on International Day of the Girl Child during the screening of ‘A Girl’s Gaze’ – a documentary by Belgian Journalists focusing on issues of gender-based violence, including child marriage, girls trafficking and girls’ position in society, as well as how these are exacerbated by climate change. The First Lady said it was disheartening to watch girls continue to face a lot of challenges even after being withdrawn from the marriages and deciding to start all over. “This documentary has challenged us all to think through and deeply on strategies that will ensure girls withdrawn from child marriages don’t go back there,” she said. Chakwera commended the strides the Spotlight Initiative is registering in eliminating violence against women and girls, but said more efforts are needed from all stakeholders to win the fight against gender-based violence as Malawi still ranks 12th on child marriages globally. “I am very happy to hear that the Spotlight Initiative, which is a partnership between the EU and UN has registered tremendous results in six districts since its inception. I do hope that the good practices in these six districts will trickle down and impact the lives of girls in the other districts as well,” said Chakwera. Speaking earlier during a panel discussion that was organized as part of the event, United Nations Resident Coordinator Maria Jose Torres said, besides other factors such as poverty, climate change has greatly contributed to child marriages in the country. Torres said girls are forced into early marriages due to pressures that homes experience as a result of the effects of climate change such as drought. “Climate change has really exacerbated child marriages in most least developed countries (LDCs), including Malawi. We need to put into action different commitments made to mitigate the impacts of climate change. It is encouraging to note that Malawi has included climate change as a priority in its long-term development strategy, the Malawi Vision 2063,” she said. In his remarks, European Union Ambassador to Malawi Rune Skinnebach said achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls are vital to building fair, inclusive, prosperous, and peaceful societies everywhere. “It is sad that when experiencing acute poverty, families and sometimes girls themselves see marriage as a way to reduce family costs and gain financial security,” said Skinnebach. In her introduction to the documentary, A Girl’s Gaze, General Representative of Flanders in Southern Africa Dr. Geraldine Reymenants said the documentary was developed to raise awareness and stir a debate around issues relating to empowerment of girls. “Let us see the girls included in the documentary as individuals who are being empowered and not as victims,” she added. The screening of A Girl’s Gaze is being spearheaded by the Embassy of Belgium and the EU in partnership with the United Nations in Malawi. Besides screening in Lilongwe and Blantyre, the documentary will also be screened for girls in secondary schools across the country.