Speech by Fabrice Basile, Charge d'Affaires a.i. of the EU Delegation to Malawi, at the Launch of 50:50 Campaign and of the Young Women in Active Politics Project

I am deeply honored to be with you here today on the occasion of the launch of the 50:50 campaign and of the EU funded project “Young Women in Active Politics”.  

The vision of the European Union is clear. The ability of men and women to participate on equal terms in political life and in decision-making is a prerequisite of genuine democracy.

Gender equality is not simply a moral duty, it is a matter of social justice. Granting the same rights to men and women – the very issue that brings us here today – makes our societies richer and more secure. It is a matter of development, not purely a matter of principles.

All our societies are poorer if they fail to tap the full potential of half their population and do not remove the obstacles which so often prevent women from rising to leadership positions.

In Malawi as and in all countries of the world, having a critical mass of women in leadership and decision-making positions is key to boost economic growth and for the development of inclusive communities.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me reaffirm here, the EU will support Malawi in attaining the 50 percent target in female representation in decision making positions as prescribed in the Southern Africa Development Community and Africa Union Gender protocols to which Malawi is a signatory. `

Let me also acknowledge here the positive steps taken by the Government of Malawi in improving women's political participation. Malawi is a signatory to many regional and international conventions that subscribe to women having equal rights, such as the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Violence, among others. Malawi has also set into stone a national policy to ensure women's participation.

Let’s not forget political parties who also took positive steps to encourage and make the environment friendlier for women to participate like reducing their nomination fees to contest in primary elections.

However, during the past elections all these efforts did not effectively reflect in a higher level of participation of women. On the contrary: in the 2014 elections only 30 and 56 women won seats in parliamentary and local council elections, representing only 16 percent and 14 percent respectively.

The number of women elected to the National Assembly reversed[1] its steady progress over past election cycles. In large part, this is attributed to persistent systemic financial and cultural barriers; but there is also a lack of affirmative action to encourage, support and position female candidates to effectively contest in elections.

Ladies and gentlemen, there is a need for an increased collective effort to reach political empowerment of women.

As political party primary elections and conventions are approaching, we call upon all political parties in Malawi to develop affirmative steps to increase women’s participation like creating quotas for women participation and leadership within a party.

It is a joint effort and Government or political parties alone cannot change the situation. Women should also start being proactive. This is why the two projects that we are launching today on improving women’s active participation in politics are crucial.

For instance, the “Young Women in Active Politics” project will help young women in 6 districts in Malawi to become aspirant candidates for the 2019 elections.

I am really looking forward to the actual implementation of this project which contains innovative activities that, I am sure, will make a difference. This new project plans to support the most active aspirant candidates in a wide range of areas like how to carry out an impactful campaign, how to better use advocacy or how to build issue-based programmes.

To all women in Malawi, this is the time to speak up.

Strengthening women's empowerment is at the center of the EU’s objectives in Malawi and the ‘young women in active politics project’ is one piece of such support. The EU is also contributing to the Electoral cycle support project implemented by UNDP with UNWOMEN and the Center for Multiparty Democracy. I am really proud that this project also contains a whole component on women political empowerment which was not the case with the project supporting the 2014 elections.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Without education, no political empowerment can be foreseen. Our support to girls' education here in Malawi and worldwide is already producing important results.

Finally, let me take the opportunity to also mention here a new global initiative, entitled the Spotlight Initiative, focused on eliminating violence against women and girls and harmful practices which has been launched by the European Union and the United Nations in September 2017. Malawi has successfully been selected as one of eight countries in Africa to receive a share of a global grant of €250 million with the EU as the main contributor.

Malawi was not only chosen based on its significant challenges in this area, but also for its demonstrated achievements, successes and political will in recent years, particularly on its work on ending child marriages and harmful cultural practices.

Of course, the road ahead is still long. I know how hard it can be for a woman to make their way into politics, we know the difficulties. This is something concerning all of us, inside the European Union and in our partner countries. But I truly believe that together we can make it happen.

Zikomo Kwambiri, Thank you