Halima Daud presides over IWD Expo and Breakfast in Blantyre

Blantyre, February 8, Mana: Deputy Minister of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare Halima Daud on Friday presided over commemoration of International Women’s Day (IWD) in Blantyre where women gathered for business expo, breakfast and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) clinic to discuss business ideas, gender barriers, and ways and means of helping women to attain economic empowerment.

Daud said the International Women’s Day commemoration provided an opportunity to celebrate strengths, resilience and determination of women from all walks of life as the day also offered a moment to reflect, learn; share and empower women towards greater heights of life.,

“The Business Expo and SMEs Clinic focuses on financial literacy and business, management to run and grow businesses sustainably, The International Women’s breakfast is also about inspiring conversations to motivate women in leadership and business management,” she said.

Daudi observed that gender gaps in accessing finances remain a pressing issue in Sub Saharan Africa, according to 2021 Global Index by the World Bank which states that 61 per cent of men in the region have access to financial services compared to 39 per of women.

The report, according to the Deputy Minister states that, the 21 per cent gender gap is significantly higher than the global average of 6 per cent in developing regions.

Daud also made reference to an International Labour Organization’s 2018 Report, which states that women in Africa spend 3.4 times more on unpaid care and domestic work than men thereby reducing their opportunities to engage in income generating activities.

The deputy minister therefore said it was imperative for Malawi in to address barriers and all other factors that limit women’s economic growth.

“Women make up 70 per cent of the informal cross border traders, significantly contributing to Africa economies across various sectors such as agriculture, finance and textile. However, they face challenges such as tariff and non-tariff barriers, restricted movement of goods, limited access to finances, low productive capacity in their micro and small enterprises,

“It is, in this regard that the Government of Malawi is harmonizing trade regulations and reducing barriers, and strategically positioning women entrepreneurs to leverage the new trade areas.

There is need for urgent policy interventions to address gender economic disadvantages that impinges on poor women” she said.

The Deputy Minister further assured women in the country that government will continue prioritizing women empowerment considering that this remains a key pillar of national development.

“We will continue fostering an enabling legal and policy environment that allows stakeholders to effectively implement programmes and strategies that shall promote gender equality and women empowerment,” she said.

The deputy minister expressed hope that government and stakeholder collaboration will enable women to access capital and expand businesses that will also build long term financial security.

A member of NGO Gender Coordination Network (NGO-GCN) Caroline Mvalo acknowledged the progress made among them such as development of policies and enactment of laws that are meant to advance women and girls rights.

“This needs to be commended. We, as a network feel there is need to work more. We realize that though women and girls represent half of Malawi’s population, gender inequality still persists everywhere and stagnates social and economic progress,

“Gender inequality continues to manifest itself in different facets that include feminization of poverty as women are left behind in financial inclusion initiatives, illiteracy remains higher among women and girls as education for girls lag behind, social ills such as child marriages, teen pregnancies and gender based violence which continue to hinder progress,” she added.

NGO GCN therefore called on fellow stakeholders and government to put more effort in ensuring that women and girls are accorded their full rights by undertaking various interventions among them; initiating financial inclusion programmes targeting different classes of women, promoting girls’ education by tackling barriers such as school fees in tertiary education institutions and addressing various social norms that influence women and girls’ vulnerability.

Mvalo said NGO GCN will continue supporting all efforts that are meant to empower women and girls in various aspects of gender and economy.

At the event, the Deputy Minister also took her time to appreciate exhibition mounted by organizations such as Youth net and Counselling (YONECO) Campaign for Female Education (Camfed) World Vision, Action Aid and their community level partners to display women strides towards economic empowerment.