Democracy Delivers in Malawi

Local leaders work to ensure everyone has the opportunity to create the future they want

Madalo Samati is the executive director of Creative Centre for Community Mobilization, a USAID-supported organization that is working to mobilize and empower rural communities in Malawi. /Jessica Benton Cooney, USAID

Madalo Samati was different than other women in her native Malawi.

Raised in a small village of 3,000 in Zomba District, she resisted the perception that women needed to be dependent on men as breadwinners early on. She also refused to participate in the common initiation to adulthood — a ceremony that taught adolescent girls how to sexually satisfy their husbands. Her sister did not refuse, got pregnant and dropped out of school at age 13.

Madalo’s decision to focus on her own education led her to participate in the USAID-funded Girls’ Attainment in Basic Literacy and Education project, a highly successful U.S. Government Agency program that worked to close the gender gap in Malawi by providing scholarships, supporting policy reform and challenging the norms and customs that have hindered girls’ education and women’s empowerment. It ran from 1991 to 2003.

“This was the turning point of my life, it was very transformative to see the potential those girls had,” she said.

Citizens of Zomba District are participating in village groups led by USAID-trained “change agents” to voice and actualize the change they want to see in their community. /Jessica Benton Cooney, USAID

Today, Madalo is the executive director of Creative Centre for Community Mobilization, a USAID-supported organization that she created as a reflection of her earlier USAID participation. In this role, she is working to mobilize and empower rural communities through “change agents” who convene discussions on the most pressing issues and their impact on community members, particularly women and girls.

This includes often going back to her own village, where she has earned high respect for her achievements, to mentor young girls at her former school — inspiring them to achieve their educational and personal goals.

With help from a USAID-backed effort, young women are learn ways they can achieve educational and personal goals. /Jessica Benton Cooney, USAID

“We can be what we want to be — we just need to be determined,” she said.

This is a new message for Malawians, who want to change their country, but have lacked the critical mass to achieve systematic changes that propel citizens forward.

Responding to Citizen Needs

As change agents like Madalo increase their demands for improved public services, the Government of Malawi must also have the ability to respond.

USAID is working across Malawi’s 28 district councils to ensure that citizen demands for accountable, quality services are met with a local government capable of supplying health care, education, sanitation and other key public goods. By emphasizing a more district-led approach to development, USAID is reinforcing the organizational know-how of local civil society organizations such as Madalo’s, while also strengthening government responsiveness.

A regular radio show, hosted by the Balaka District office, is giving citizens the opportunity to reach out to their local officials to ask difficult questions, and hold their local government accountable. /Jessica Benton Cooney, USAID

USAID is also working extensively in eight districts around the country to improve the functionality and transparency of their administration and public finances — ensuring citizens can trust their local officials to deliver on their promises.

In Madalo’s Zomba District, 37 village development committees representing 17,000 citizens have developed village action plans with the support of their local council and USAID.

Members of a village development committee in Zomba District are outlining their community work plans, highlighting their priorities for themselves and their local council. /Jessica Benton Cooney, USAID

Through mapping out priorities based on budget and geography, citizens are prioritizing the investments they want to see. These plans will then feed into the wider district development planning process, to ensure local government responds to village level needs. Take schools as one example: an issue like buying desks for students can be solved at the local level, while building a school requires greater support.

Malnia Maganga, village development committee member in Zomba District is proud of her leadership, in which she has inspired other women in her community to also voice their ideas. /Jessica Benton Cooney, USAID

These efforts also increased women’s leadership at the local level — which has been mainly male dominated.

“I feel good to be a leader among men, as I can represent the issues we face in the village better,” said Malnia Maganga, a village development committee member who aspires to become her area chairperson.

Working with their local council chairperson, such as 37-year-old Chikumbutso Likandawe, who is in his second term in the Zomba District Council, citizen’s opinions of their representatives have positively increased as they see them follow through on proposals and achieve community goals.

“The local action plans have helped us know where we are coming from, and where we are going,” said Chikumbutso.

Through supporting local leaders such as Madalo and Chikumbutso, USAID is challenging cultural norms and working to ensure everyone has the opportunity to participate and create the future they want.

About the Author

Jessica Benton Cooney is the communications specialist of USAID’s Center of Excellence on Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance.