Human Rights and Democracy

After 30 years of an oppressive regime under President Banda, Malawi became a democracy in 1994. The country still struggles with political infighting and corruption, human rights abuses, and lack of political participation. These problems have brought worthy initiatives to a standstill and greatly impacted the country’s development. 

The Malawi National Development Plan identified democratic governance – including transparency, accountability and fairness – as a core challenge facing Malawi.  It emphasized the need for promoting and sustaining a democratic culture that allows for equal political participation, devoid of corruption, regionalism and nepotism. The “Malawi Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper” (MPRSP) highlights strengthening democratic governance as a means to ensuring that public institutions and systems protect and benefit the poor.

A positive development since the entrance of democracy has been that of a growing civil society, which is bringing major human rights issues to the national agenda and challenging the government to take these issues seriously.

Story Workshop's Human Rights and Democracy Initiatives:

Find out about how we work to address human rights in a number of areas, including:

• Religious dialogue through Ndife Amodzi
• Child labour through Tisazunze Ana
• Citizens' rights through Tilitonse
• Anti-corruption through Chiphamas