Commission to profile women professionals

Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) has launched a website to profile women professionals to facilitate their appointment in both the public and private sectors.

The initiative, according to MHRC, was in response to President Lazarus Chakwera’s public call to have a platform that will profile women professionals who could be considered for appointments.

Speaking during the launch of the website at his office at Capital Hill in Lilongwe yesterday, the President said he was delighted with the website as it would help to break the bias against women in society.

Chakwera said: “Women suffer biases in the way they are treated when accused of wrong-doing in the home, in the workplace and in the community.

“Women suffer bias in the way they are treated when competing for opportunities for jobs, for business, for education, and for promotion.

“And so, the first step towards ending this bias is acknowledging that it exists and calling it out for what it is whenever we see it and wherever we see it. Each of us must begin that process of acknowledging the existence of bias by examining our own bias against women.”

He called on the citizenry to join the movement that pushes for equality to achieve the dictates of the Gender Equality Act and sustainable development goal number five which talks about promotion of gender equality.

The President said: “I am further delighted that those of you who have built this platform have done so in response to my public request for support in identifying professional women who can be a resource to our developmental agenda as government.

“I am fully committed to seeing to it that this platform is put to good use, and I call on other institutions to do the same.”

In her remarks during the function that also marked this year’s commemoration of International Women’s Day, MHRC commissioner Stella Twea said the website and compendium will be updated regularly to ensure that it is not only up-to-date, but also that no woman is left behind.

She said for a start the website has targeted women with post-graduate qualifications, notably doctorate and master’s degrees across fields and the next level targets those with first degrees and diplomas before rolling out to the informal sector.

So far, the commission says over 150 women have submitted their profiles.

In an interview, gender activist Emma Kaliya hailed the initiative saying it addresses the hypocritical question of ‘where are women?’ that usually comes up when organisations are questioned for leaving out women in their appointments.

She also said the initiative will facilitate the fulfillment  of the Gender Equality Act on appointments.

But MHRC executive secretary Habiba Osman said this is just one strategy to promote women and they are working on more strategies that will reach out to different groups.She said: “We need to begin from somewhere. This innovation targets those professional women who have to take up those strategic positions in the public and private sectors and be able to drive policy.”

In July 2020, the President came under fire over both his maiden Cabinet and board appointments which had lower women representation contrary to the Gender Equality Act which requires 60:40 gender ratio in public appointments.

Chakwera is reported to have suggested that his failure to have more women appointed was because he could not easily find them.