Malawi

Our work on Women’s Empowerment aims to ensure that women and girls are free from gender-based violence (GBV) and its associated risks including HIV.

The programme has a strong focus on GBV prevention using the SASA! Faith methodology. This is an innovative and impactful approach, developed by Trócaire and Raising Voices Uganda.

The programme brings together traditional and religious leaders and members of all religions, as well as women, men, girls and boys. They challenge cultural and social norms that contribute to GBV. They jointly identify and carry out ways to prevent and respond to gender-based violence, harmful cultural practices such as child marriage, and HIV in their communities.

SASA Faith! mobilises marginalised and hard-to-reach faith communities. It aims to inspire everyone to put to practice the values of justice, peace and dignity in their relationships to end intimate partner violence and violence against children.

The programme also promotes GBV response efforts by working with traditional and formal structures to protect and assist survivors in their full recovery, and assist in the prosecution of their perpetrators.

Our actions include:

• Empowering communities to explore unequal power relations
  
• Challenging attitudes and beliefs, including engaging men and boys
• Supporting the economic empowerment of women
  
• Providing legal support to survivors of violence
• Enhancing women’s participation in decision making
• Supporting traditional leaders, religious leaders and law enforcers to take action on violence and end harmful cultural practices (for example child marriage)
• Advocacy on issues of Women’s Empowerment, GBV and HIV, including influencing legislation and implementation of policies

Malawi is particularly vulnerable to climate change. It frequently experiences hazards such as prolonged dry spells, seasonal droughts, intense rainfall and flooding.

Trócaire Malawi works to build communities’ resilience to climatic shocks – particularly droughts and floods. In the event of humanitarian crises and disasters, we respond to ensure communities, particularly women, receive needs-based humanitarian assistance.

Our actions include:

• Providing basic items during crisis such as food items including maize, beans, and corn-soya blend
• Supporting locally-driven, needs-based, and gender-aware humanitarian responses
  
• Ensuring the protection of the most vulnerable, including women and children, people with disability and families affected by HIV and AIDS
  
• Developing emergency preparedness plans with partners