Gender and Justice Unit, in collaboration with Malawi Local Government Association (Malga), has donated personal protective equipment (PPE) to Mchezi communities in Lilongwe to help fight the Covid-19 pandemic.
In an interview on Thursday, Gender and Justice Unit projet officer Tionge Nyemba said the donation is part of the Leadership and Legal Empowerment for Newly Elected Female Parliamentarians and Councillors in Malawi project which is supporting women politicians to retain their seats.
The items include soap, face masks, buckets and gloves, targeting market committees, police, chiefs and women councillors.
“We donated the items because community members do not have the capacity to buy PPE,” said Nyemba.
Mchezi Market chairperson Richard Banda said the PPE will protect market users from the pandemic.
“We could not buy buckets to position in several places at the market,” he said.
On her part, Nalikule ward councillor Belifa Chisapo said Covid-19 remains a threat to people.
“So, people in rural areas need support to effectively prevent the spread of the pandemic,” she said.
Malga Women’s Caucus vice-president Esther Sagawa said women councillors need more support because they compete against men who have an upper hand in terms of resources.
“Out of over 460 councillors, about 60 are women; hence, the need to support the women to retain their seats and woo more to participate in future elections,” she said.
The project is funded by Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa.
