ActionAid Malawi celebrates women empowerment interventions with commitment to more effective programming to change women’s lives for better

As a social justice organisation that places a feminist approach at the centre of its programming and campaigns, ActionAid Malawi says it has been implementing interventions that have changed lives for women, young women and girls for the better.

Reflecting on the organisation’s achievements the last five years, ActionAid Malawi’s acting executive director, Wongani Mugaba says: “Through our five Country Strategy Paper V: “Action for Social Justice” that ran from 2018 to 2023, we have empowered a total of 634 women collectives in taking joint action with allies to challenge all forms of patriarchy and violence. Furthermore, a total of 80,000 women, young women and girls have been empowered to empowered to challenge patriarchy that predisposes them to violence and exploitation.” 

To address the spates of violence against women and girls, Mugaba says a total of 49,143 women and girls got linked to comprehensive Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) services. 

“Cognizant of the fact that poverty is a driving force of gender-based violence, ActionAid Malawi has empowered 130,486 women and girls in economic empowerment interventions including vocational skills, Village Savings and Loans and digital financial spaces. This includes young urban women who have been empowered to challenge oppressive macro-economic policies such as austerity which has resulted in dwindling service delivery in key sectors of the country,” adds Mugaba.

Mugaba says this has mainly been achieved through interventions aimed empowering 136, 728 women and young women to control productive resources such as land, business capital, markets and agricultural proceeds.” 

ActionAid Malawi further indicates that a total of 335, 159 young women and girls are now in full control of their sexual and reproductive health lives, thanks to various interventions by the organization and its partners at national, district and community level. 

According to the statement by the organisation, ActionAid Malawi interventions also focused on climate change and emergency response in which 58, 784 women smallholder farmers are now practicing agroecology including organic manure making. In the context of rising cost and destructive nature of inorganic manure. 

The statement says a further 3,158 have been empowered to lead in emergency preparedness and response, in line with ActionAid Malawi’s humanitarian signature. 

To cap it all, ActionAid Malawi says 7,188 women got empowerment to assume leadership positions in various development and governance structures of the including Village Development Committees, Area Development Committees, Local Government and Parliament. 

Going forward, ActionAid Malawi says it intends to reprogramme its work to effectively respond to a rapidly evolving political and socio-economic context to contribute to the ActionAid’s Action for Global Justice, Sustainable Development Goals and Malawi’s Agenda 2063.

For media enquiries, contact: Wongani Mugaba,  Acting ActionAid Malawi Executive Director. Email: Wongani.Mugaba@actionaid.org, Tell: +265 (0) 1 779 000,  Cell: +265 999 413, 619

About ActionAid

ActionAid is a global federation that works with more than 15 million people living in more than 40 of the world’s poorest countries. We want to see a just and sustainable world in which everyone enjoys their right to a life of dignity and freedom from poverty and oppression. We work to achieve social justice and gender equality  and to eradicate poverty.