Speaker says tackling GBV tops to-do list for Malawi

Malawians consider gender-based violence the most important women’s rights issue that the government and society ought to address.

This was said by the Speaker of the Parliament of Malawi, Honourable Catherine Gotani Hara, in remarks made on her behalf by deputy Speaker of the Malawi Parliament, Honourable Aisha Adams at a high-level workshop on the SADC Model Law on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) held at Salima, in Malawi last week.

Hara said in spite of having a rich vein of policies and laws to tackle the vice, it is ironic that GBV is on the rise in the country.

“It is on this basis that I thank the SADC Parliamentary Forum (PF) for coming up with this model law, which is expected to guide SADC nations when it comes to law-making on gender issues,” the Speaker said.

She noted that the rich quality of the model law is a result of the wide consultative processes throughout the SADC region during its development.

“The model law is therefore a response to the prevailing shortfalls in existing GBV legislation and the persistent gaps between policies and practice across the region,” Hara said and also thanked Malawi’s Minister for Gender (Honourable Jean Sendeza), and Plan International Malawi for organising the meeting, which is critical to the law-making process, which parliament is entrusted with.

“Our work requires that whenever we make laws, we live in conformity with the rest of the international community. We all know that as a nation we live in a global village.

“This is reason why time and again our government has committed to global values by signing and ratifying various treaties, protocols and international instruments promoting regional integration,” she added.

Hara said one such instrument is the SADC Model Law on GBV that aims to harness the formulation of good national laws to curb GBV.

She said Malawi had put in place the necessary legal framework that includes the Malawi National Gender Policy; the Gender Equality Act; Deceased Estates, Wills, Inheritance and Protection Act; Marriage, Divorce and Family Act; Criminal Procedures Act; and Trafficking in Persons Act to deal with GBV.

But in spite of having all it requires in terms of the legal framework to curb GBV, the phenomenon is on the rise in the country, she said.

“The question you and me ought to ask is why the situation is like this? I believe this workshop will help us to answer this question.

“We have experts on the subject especially those who have consulted widely on it, including experts from SADC-PF and neighbours from Plan International Zambia Offices, who I believe will provide the forum with experiences from the SADC block.

“Locally, we have representatives from the Office of the Ombudsman, Malawi Human Rights Commission and Youth Groups, who I believe will spice up the discussions with home-based experiences on GBV,” Hara said.

She reiterated that the roles of MPs are threefold – legislation, representation and oversight – and to effectively carry out these functions, MPs need information.

“This is why we do not take this interaction for granted. This crop of parliamentarians, especially, the women would want to leave a legacy when we retire and I believe with the knowledge gained from this workshop, MPs will return to Parliament invigorated and doing things differently.

“We hope to see more motions, questions and private member’s bills targeting to address the existing gaps and shortfalls,” Hara said.

Besides the Minister for Gender, the policy holder on gender issues who was also the Guest of Honour, Hara acknowledged the chairpersons of the various committees who are mostly male parliamentarians.

“We believe you are going to be part of the He or She Campaign Champions as the fight against gender-based violence requires concerted efforts,” she said.

The high-level workshop also drew the participation of the chairperson of the Women Caucus, Hon. Roseby Gadama, MP; chairpersons of Various Committees of Parliament; all members of the Women Caucus; Madam Phoebe Kasogo, Country Director for Plan International Malawi and the Clerk of Parliament, Fiona Kalemba.

Also attending was the Ombudsman, Commissioner of Malawi Human Rights Commission, Madam Grace Malera; the director of Malawi Human Rights Commission, Habiba Osman; Representatives of Plan International Zambia and Malawi Offices; Representatives of Youth Groups; staff of Plan International Malawi, Parliament of Malawi and the Ministry of Gender as well as the media.

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