Women gathering to celebrate International Women’s Day
MAWIA’s work has reached over 2 million widows throughout Malawi. We currently have 1,119 Widows Support Groups, comprised of 25 members each, with a total of 27,925 members scattered across 28 districts of Malawi.
Social Empowerment
Widows in Malawi feel isolated and desperate when they no longer have a stable home life, and their in-laws and friends stop supporting them. MAWIA works to combat these feelings by uniting widows and strengthening their bonds with one another through its social empowerment programming. One of MAWIA’s primary goals is to make women experiencing widowhood feel less alone as they grieve their husbands’ passings and adjust to the many changes in their new lives as widows.
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As part of its social empowerment work, MAWIA has opened local chapters in each of the country’s three main regions. Currently, the Central Region has 438 groups, the Northern Region has 255 groups, and the Southern Region has 426 groups. Each MAWIA chapter is limited to up to 25 women to facilitate effective dialogue sessions, and during meetings, group members unite to provide emotional support for one another and collectively share their experiences. The chapters provide a place for widows in every region of the country to learn from each other and receive invaluable advice and guidance from women who have faced similar trauma and hardship as they have.
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In addition to smaller chapter meetings, MAWIA’s social empowerment work brings together larger groups of widows to celebrate milestones and build community across regions. This past year, MAWIA hosted its first-ever celebration of International Widows’ Day and brought together women from hundreds of MAWIA chapters. This year, MAWIA also celebrated International Women’s Day, threw a MAWIA Christmas Party, and held an event with the First Lady of Malawi for Mother’s Day
Economic Empowerment
MAWIA provides widows with the capacity, resources, and skills to financially provide for themselves and their children. Through MAWIA’s economic empowerment projects, widows in Malawi develop skills such as sewing and financial literacy and use these tools to earn a living wage to support themselves and their families. Below are some examples of the different types of economic projects MAWIA undertakes to help widows build strong economic foundations.
Legal Empowerment
Malawi is currently experiencing an acute shortage of qualified lawyers who are available to advise widows on their legal rights. In addition, most widows are unsure of how to seek formal legal guidance and cannot afford representation if they can find it. As a result, most widows in Malawi have very limited, if any, information concerning their legal rights regarding child custody, marital property rights, and access to their husbands’ pensions or savings accounts. To address this important issue, MAWIA had undertaken a wide variety of legal empowerment projects for widows across Malawi. These projects range from direct support in individual criminal cases, to teaching widows about their legal rights, to advocating for the legal rights of widows at the United Nations.
WIDOW'S HUMAN RIGHTS FACT-FINDING PROJECT​
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The Fact-Finding Story Collection Project drives MAWIA’s legal empowerment work. Through this project, MAWIA collects the stories and experiences of widows across Malawi and documents any violations of domestic or international human rights law that these women experience. This fact-finding process forms the basis of much of MAWIA’s legal advocacy work.
TAX REFORM​
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Women in urban areas of Malawi are often grossly overcharged when they attempt to change the Title Deed of their home from their late husband's name to their own name. These excessive fees, which start at a minimum of almost $22,000 MWK, prevent widows from completing this legal process, which weakens their legal claims to their own homes. MAWIA is currently engaged in a Tax Reform Advocacy project and petitioning the government to revise this policy and pass standard affordable rates for this process.
LEGAL EDUCATION AND SENSITIZATION WORK​
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MAWIA works to educate widows about their legal rights so that women feel empowered to ask for what they are legally entitled to. Because it is common for a widow’s in-laws, or other family members, to take physical and monetary property from widows once their husbands’ pass away (also known as “property grabbing”), MAWIA works to disseminate accurate information on how women can assert their right over their marital property once they become widows. For example, MAWIA is currently publishing a magazine about women’s experiences with property grabbing to spread awareness of the issue and to inform widows what rights they have rights over their marital property.
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY​
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The Honorable Jean Sendeza, Minister of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare during the Press Conference on International Widows Day
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Women gathering to celebrate International Women’s Day
Empowerment Projects
SEWING CENTER​
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MAWIA’s Sewing Center, located in the heart of Lilongwe, is a core element of its economic programming. Through the Center, MAWIA has run sewing classes where experts train widows so that they can start their own seamstress businesses. The Center also raises money for MAWIA by selling beautiful handsewn skirts, bags, purses, and aprons.
EMERGENCY SUPPORT​
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MAWIA also provides emergency support for widows when needed. For example, in 2023, MAWIA distributed critical supplies to widows in the Southern Region who were affected by Cyclone Freddy in 2023. In partnership with the Global Fund for Widows, this relief included grains, cooking oil, sugar, salt, as well as some cash payments.
MAWIA’s Mother's Day Celebration with the First Lady of Malawi