Women and Development in Malawi

To what extent are gender considerations incorporated into development initiatives in Malawi? What are the key issues affecting women?s legal and political status as well as their roles within the economy and the family? This report offers a general overview of the status of women in Malawi and points to the strong bias of existing literature towards rural areas and the southern region. Moreover, existing research tends to lack or over-simplify gender analysis. It argues that government agencies and donor organisations must adopt policies to overcome current gender inequities, particularly in essential areas of access to land and credit, social services, equal opportunity in employment, and political participation.