Malawi reflects on Beijing Plan of Action

Malawi has made significant progress in implementing the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA) which United Nations (UN) member States adopted 25 years ago to promote gender equality and empower women.

But former president Joyce Banda, in an interview on the sidelines of the national conference on Beijing +25 consultations held in Lilongwe yesterday, said the country still needs to improve on some areas, such as ending gender-based violence (GBV) if it is to successfully implement the 12 thematic areas which the global women summit adopted in 1995.

Banda, who governed the country from 2012 to 2014 and presided over yesterday’s conference, acknowledged that Malawi, as a UN member State, has made strides in promoting women to key decision-making positions, among others.

She said: “We have done well in some sections and we have done bad in others. We have done well because we have had a female Chief Justice, a female Malawi Electoral Commission chairperson, a female Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet  and district commissioners. Also, when I was president, I appointed over 100 women in key decision-making positions.”

However, she expressed concern that Malawi is not moving forward in reducing GBV as high rape and defilement cases are still being recorded while, on the other hand, many women are still being oppressed  just for being female.

The former president, who was the first female activist to chair the Non-Governmental Organisations Gender Coordination Network (NGO-GCN), said the country needs to work hard to eliminate GBV.

On her part, gender activist Emma Kaliya  cited the enactment of the Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations Act, the Gender Equality and Women Empowerment Policy and the country’s adherence to the Convention on the Elimination of all  forms of Discrimination Against Women protocol as some of the key areas in which Malawi has done well.

She said: “Malawi has put in place legal instruments to protect women from violence but we still experience huge inequalities and GBV. We do not understand why some still defile children.”

The Beijing Platform for Action outlined 12 thematic areas which UN member States globally were compelled to work on in trying to empower women and girls in their countries. These include women and poverty; education and training of women; women and health; violence against women; women and  conflict; women and the economy; human rights; women and the media; women and the environment and the girl child.

Member States made a determination to advance the goals of equality, development and peace for all women based on the 12 thematic areas.

While commending the strides the country has made, United Nations Development Programme representative Shigeki Kamatsubara said Malawi should do more in fighting for women and girls rights.

He said: “Malawi has made advances, but that is not enough. Talking about empowerment and health, we can do a lot together. We look forward to seeing civil society organisations advancing the cause of women and girls.”