BY MAGGIE KATHEWERA BANDA WOMENS LEGAL RESOURCES CENTRE-MALAWI
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CONTEXT Malawi is a landlocked country in Southern Africa -
east of Zambia, north & west of Mozambique, and south of
Tanzania. 2
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MALAWI : 3
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CONTEXT Malawi has a population of 13,066,320-(49%) are males
&(51%) are females(NSO 2008). Approx 85% live in the rural
areas and are involved in subsistence farming. 4
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CONTEXT Poverty continues to be chronic and widespread It is
estimated that 52.4 % of Malawis population live below the poverty
line of 1 US Dollar per day (IHS 2005). 5
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POVERTY ; HOW IT IS DEFINED IN MALAWIAN CONTEXT It is that
condition in which the basic needs of a household or an individual
are not met. Such needs include; food, shelter, clothing etc(IHS
1998,2005). 6
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POVERTY: DEFINITION FROM RESEARCH 7
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DEFINITION OF POVERTY: From research Men Women; Lack of basic
needs-food, clothing and shelter, unemployment, lack of money,
staying in rented house, lack of safe water, chronic illness, lack
of land, lack of farm inputs, lack of children But of most
significance Employment Money Clothes(especially the youth) same as
men but also looking at quality. How one lives also matters, you
might have a good life but if you are beaten that is also poverty,
lack of children, lack of descent clothes, lack of school fees for
your children, lack of medicine in hospitals, womens insecurity =
women raped. But of most significance Water Food Medicine in
hospitals 8
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Who are Malawi's poor people? Poverty affects people who are in
one of three different groups: the economically active poor, who
are able, of working age and in good health but who lack productive
assets the transient poor, who are at risk of becoming poor because
of periodic or transitory shocks but who are also capable of rising
above the poverty line the core poor, who have no capacity to
generate income and who face chronic poverty (source IFAD) 9
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POVERTY LEVELS AS DESCRIBED BY RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS 1.
Extremely Poor Helpless, fail to get a daily meal Have no shelter,
food and clothing Survive on handouts and other peoples generosity
2. Very Poor Afford a meal but they are not sure of their next meal
Have shelter but in dilapidated form Live on hand to mouth; they
cannot save Can not afford fees for their children 3. Poor Have
basic needs but very few Opportunities to land but no farm inputs
Have seasonal hunger Have opportunities to small scale and informal
businesses 10
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POVERTY AND GENDER In Malawi, poverty largely has a womans face
- 58.4% of the poorest households are female headed Other
indicators Maternal Mortality -807/100,000livebirths Total
fertility rate-6.3 Infant mortality rate-68/1000 live births
(source: NSO 2004) 11
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WHY ARE WOMEN POOR? 12
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WHY ARE WOMEN POOR? High illiteracy levels-56% for females
compared to males at 28%. Girls drop out to assist in domestic work
and later on not able to secure formal employment. The impact of
the HIV/AIDS -around 60% of 960,000 adults living with HIV in
Malawi are females. Womens experience as care givers and when they
are sick themselves both pose challenges to engage in meaningful
income generation. 13
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WHY ARE WOMEN POOR? Culture; Subjected to harmful cultural
practices Forced early marriages Womens limited power -to make
decisions affects their ability to engage in meaningful activities
to move out of poverty 14
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WHY ARE WOMEN POOR? Burden of Triple roles Reproductive roles
consume a lot of time. Women work long hours with no or little
monetary gains. Estimated that women spend 1 hours fetching
firewood 1 hours fetching water 15
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WHY ARE WOMEN POOR? Limited access/control to/over resources;
Credit(GOM 2008; 9.7% women able to access loans compared to 14%
men) 16
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WHY ARE WOMEN POOR? Land(In matrilineal women regarded as
owners of land but control with men. In patrilineal, women do not
own and can not control land, only access it through husband.
Situation becomes difficult in widowhood In most cases, women do
not enjoy the fruits of their labour Used as cheap labourers He
makes unilateral decisions on the land. As tradition demands, I am
only expected to assist in cultivating the land. After harvesting,
he will also decide how to use the money 17
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WHY ARE WOMEN POOR? Farm inputs(54% men had access to
fertilizer coupons compared to 49% women). This affects their yield
and ultimately income. Limited access to formal employment- Only
15% of women are in waged employment(HIS 2005). 18
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WHY ARE WOMEN POOR? Exposed to domestic violence Domestic
violence, 1 in 3 of those women interviewed in a Malawi Demographic
Health Survey 2004 indicated to have experienced physical violence
in the home. Domestic violence lowers womens self-esteem and may
erode their mental health and limits their ability to move out of
poverty. 19
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POLICY FRAMEWORK THAT EXISTS FOR WOMEN TO GET OUT OF POVERTY
The Constitution of the Republic of Malawi- Section 30; right to
development(economic, social, cultural and political) special
consideration for women, children and the disabled The Malawi
National Gender Programme-has 6 thematic areas one of which is
poverty and economic empowerment The National Gender
Policy-Addresses economic empowerment of women 20
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EMPOWERMENT INITIATIVES FOR WOMEN TO MOVE OUT OF POVERTY
Several development partners have been assisting Government as well
as NGOs to work towards alleviating womens poverty and such work
include:- 21
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EMPOWERMENT INITIATIVES FOR WOMEN TO MOVE OUT OF POVERTY
Economic empowerment initiatives by government and NGOs For example
Skills Development and Income generation by Ministry of Gender,
Child welfare and Community Development. Assist women to generate
income through small scale businesses 22
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EMPOWERMENT INITIATIVES FOR WOMEN TO MOVE OUT OF POVERTY
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EMPOWERMENT INITIATIVES FOR WOMEN TO MOVE OUT OF POVERTY
Economic empowerment Livestock keeping; goats cattle, pigs for
income generation 24
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EMPOWERMENT INITIATIVES FOR WOMEN TO MOVE OUT OF POVERTY
Economic empowerment Provision of loans by government and NGOs and
establishment of village savings and loans scheme; women engage in
various trading activities; 25
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EMPOWERMENT INITIATIVES FOR WOMEN TO MOVE OUT OF POVERTY
Education Girls Education; provision of bursaries and readmission
policy among other things. 26
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EMPOWERMENT INITIATIVES FOR WOMEN TO MOVE OUT OF POVERTY
EDUCATION Adult literacy for women to acquire writing, reading and
numeracy skills. 27
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EMPOWERMENT INITIATIVES FOR WOMEN TO MOVE OUT OF POVERTY
Creation of womens groups for social empowerment-rights awareness
mostly by Civil Society organizations. These act as lobby groups
for women to demand fulfillment of their rights. 28
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EMPOWERMENT INITIATIVES FOR WOMEN TO MOVE OUT OF POVERTY
CLAIMING LEGAL RIGHTS Access to Justice; women claiming their legal
entitlements through Civil Society organizations. ie Widows
fighting for their inheritance after they have been dispossessed by
late husbands relatives 29
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WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES Limited resources Lack of
implementation of laws and policies Customary laws that are
oppressive Entrenched patriarchal values and systems that put men
ahead of women Lack of gendered analysis by players on issues of
poverty. 30
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WHY IS A CLEAR FOCUS ON POVERTY AND GENDER NEEDED It is clear
that poverty is a gendered phenomena which needs a gender approach
to overcome It is clear that in most cases, womens experience of
poverty is a result of unequal power relations. 31
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WHY IS A CLEAR FOCUS ON POVERTY AND GENDER NEEDED A Gender
approach will assist development practitioners to understand why
and how poverty affects women and men differently and formulate
relevant poverty measurements and alleviation programmes. 32
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WHY IS A CLEAR FOCUS ON POVERTY AND GENDER NEEDED Most
importantly it will assist to reduce poverty by addressing the root
causes of the same and allocate resources appropriately. 33
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THE END When I go to the market, I prefer buying commodities
from a fellow woman because I know what it means. She will go back
home and use the money for the betterment of her children and the
family as a whole 34