Tackling gender equality issues at the workplace in Malawi

Context

In 2014, Malawi passed the Gender Equality Act to ensure that women and men have equal rights under the law, and everyone is treated with dignity. However, cases of sexual harassment and discrimination in workplaces in Malawi were still being reported in 2022. Some Malawian companies were also facing legal challenges in court on the grounds of gender discrimination. The Employers’ Consultative Association of Malawi (ECAM) was registered in 1963 under the Trustees Incorporation Act of Malawi as an employers’ trade association representing all subscribing employers. It has direct membership from more than 250 organisations which includes 6 associations. The mandate of ECAM is to protect, guide and promote the interests of employers and businesses in Malawi on labour, employment, and socio-economic policies. One of ECAM’s business agenda priority is on gender. ECAM was concerned with understanding the extent to which gender-related discrimination, harassment and violence was taking place in the workplace, so that this evidence could be used to identify key gaps for managing gender issues in the workplace and to support their members in addressing them.

Objective

The technical assistance was to conduct a nationwide gender audit in the workplace, to gather insights on the nature and prevalence of gender-related issues in the workplace, approaches at workplace and policy level for preventing and managing gender such issues.

Result

The intervention produced a Gender Audit in the Workplace Report that has provided compelling evidence to ECAM and local stakeholders, empowering them to act and improve the business environment. The intervention also delivered training sessions and associated manual to build capacity among ECAM staff, selected members, and partners, to enable them to address gender-related issues effectively. To guide the efforts in creating a more inclusive and gender-responsive workplace environment, an Action Plan serving as a strategic roadmap, outlining concreate actions and key steps for ECAM to implement was also produced.

ECAM in implementing the key steps from the action plan, after the intervention ended, has used the Gender Audit in the Workplace Report to

Make contributions to the Review Committee of the Malawi Gender Equality Act.
Conduct Chief Executives and board members sensitisation meeting on the ILO C 190 on violence and harassment in the workplace. At the end of the meeting 30 CEOs and Board members signed a statement of commitment towards zero tolerance of violence and harassment.
Develop Model Policy Against Violence and Harassment in the workplace. This has been validated and is currently in design for printing.
Engage employers to align company goals and spare resources for GBV initiatives. This has resulted in companies developing GBV policies- hiring policies, etc. It has also resulted in a 100% increase in the number of companies who participated in the Gender Equality category during the 2023 Employer of the Year Awards: from 10 companies to 20 companies. The number is expected to increase in 2024.

ECAM is currently seeking to set up a task force, a key step in the action plan, to deliver trainings and other activities to make the workplaces in Malawi more inclusive and gender responsive.

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Tackling gender equality issues at the workplace in Malawi

Context

Objective

Result

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