SUBMISSION BY MALAWI
ON
THE MATTERS TO BE ADDRESSED AT AN IN-SESSION WORKSHOP ON
GENDER-RESPONSIVE CLIMATE POLICY WITH A FOCUS ON ADAPTATION
AND CAPACITY-BUILDING, AND TRAINING FOR DELEGATES ON GENDER
ISSUES
Malawi welcomes the opportunity to submit its views on the matters to be addressed at an insession workshop on advancing the Lima Work Program on Gender and gender-responsive
climate policy with a focus on adaptation and capacity-building, and training for delegates on
gender issues.
Malawi as a Party to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change, has put in place several
measures to adapt to the prevailing situation, and to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases and
to sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Notwithstanding the urgency to respond to climate change, it has been observed that the general
public in Malawi has inadequate knowledge about climate change and its associated devastating
impacts.
It is therefore incumbent upon the Government to expedite the process of climate change
learning in the country through human and institutional capacity building, climate change
financing, and consideration of cross-cutting issues. These three pillars will ensure the attainment
of the requisite resilience to climate change by the year 2030.
From previous studies, it has been noted that many people talk about climate change like any
other topical issue, without giving it serious consideration (GoM,2012). As such, the general
level of awareness, knowledge and understanding among Malawians about this phenomenon is
rather inadequate. Even at institutions of higher learning, some academicians have no clear idea
what climate change is all about. It is therefore not surprising that local communities in
vulnerable areas do not possess the requisite knowledge and skills for adapting to climate change
challenges that adversely impact their livelihood systems. In order to address the situation, the
Government has started to work with experts responsible for developing curricula for primary,
secondary schools including the University in order to incorporate climate change issues in the
existing syllabi. But preliminary assessments show that these efforts, if implemented in isolation,
may only enhance awareness about climate change and not facilitate behavioral change and
initiate action for the implementation of adaptation and mitigation measures. The absence of
supporting policies and strategies on climate change only helps to exacerbate the situation.
The Government of Malawi recognizes the need for enhancing capacity building and institutional
arrangements in a bid to respond effectively to the enormity of climate change challenge, hence
the development of a National Climate Change Learning Strategy in the year 2013 Issues of
capacity building and institutional arrangements have been articulated in this Climate Change
Learning Strategy, but also they have been discussed in the National Climate Change
Management Policy and the National Climate Change Investment Plan.
The necessity of climate change learning is summarised in Article 6 of the UNFCCC where it is
stated that: “In carrying out their commitments under Article 4, paragraph (i), the Parties shall:
Promote and facilitate at national and, as appropriate ,sub regional and regional levels, and in
accordance with national laws and regulations , and within their respective capacities; (i) The
development and implementation of educational and public awareness programmes on climate
change and its effects (ii) Public access to information on climate change and its effects (iii)
Public participation in addressing climate change and its effects and developing adequate
responses; and (iv) Training of scientific , technical and managerial personnel (b) Cooperate in
and promote, at the international level , and where appropriate , using existing bodies; (i) The
development and exchange of educational and public awareness material on climate change and
its effects (ii) The development and implementation of education and training programmes,
including the strengthening of national institutions and the exchange of secondment of personnel
to train experts in this field, in particular for developing countries”. Issues of climate change
learning are also highlighted in Article 10 (e) of the Kyoto Protocol. The Doha Work Programme
has elaborated on the implementation of Article 6 of the Convention with respect to education,
training, public awareness, public participation, public access to information and international
cooperation (UNFCCC, 2012). UNESCO is the lead agency for the UN Decade of Education for
Sustainable Development (ESD), a decade which spans over the period 2005 – 2014 (UNESCO,
2006). ESD allows every human being to acquire the knowledge, skills, attitudes and values
necessary to shape a sustainable future. This entails the inclusion of key sustainable development
issues into teaching and learning, e.g., climate change, disaster risk reduction, biodiversity,
poverty reduction, and sustainable consumption. It also requires participatory teaching and
learning methods that motivate and empower learners to change their behavior and take action
for sustainable development. The ESD framework covers three key areas, namely, society,
environment and economy with culture as a crosscutting issue.
Challenges
i.
ii.
iii.
Current human resource capacity is inadequate to efficiently and effectively respond to
adverse impacts of climate change on livelihood systems and development in general.
During recent years, setbacks that Malawi has faced include reduced number of women
in Parliament and Cabinet, increased gap between men and women in HIV prevalence
rate, and increased poverty among rural female headed households.
Inadequate Government funding for gender programmes and activities 8. Inadequate
funding is one of the major bottlenecks to achieving gender equality and women
empowerment. Funding to gender programmes and activities, including towards the
implementation of gender related laws, is fragmented and inadequate. Almost all the
programmes on gender are supported by development partners. Gender budgeting
guidelines that were developed by the Ministry of Gender in 2005 have not translated into
targeted funding for gender programmes. Weak institutional mechanisms and inadequate
human capacity 9. The National Gender Policy (2000- 2005) defined the National Gender
Machinery (NGM) in Malawi as the Department of Gender Affairs in the Ministry
responsible for Gender, and it is headed by a Director. The positioning of the NGM in a
line Ministry has fundamentally compromised its authority and influence on central
Government policies, strategies and programmes. As a result, gender issues are not taken
seriously at central Government level and by senior and high level policy makers. This is
clearly reflected in the Malawi Growth and Development Strategies (MGDS I & II)
which, as the main Government development 8 documents, have failed to adequately
mainstream gender in all its priority areas although gender is included as a stand-alone
section.
Reduced number of women in Parliament from 22 percent in 2009 elections to 16.7
percent in 2014. Malawi has no quota system for and Members of Parliament are elected
through the first past the post system. 9 b) The failure of the first female State President2
to gain a mandate from the electorate during the 2014 elections. c) Reduced number of
women Ministers from 28.1 percent in 2013 to 15 percent in 2014.
iv.
Capacity Gaps
Malawi has a number of capacity gaps at strategic level that hinder effective support and
implementation of climate change response programs. Such as climate change knowledge
(science, impacts and response accounting for GHG emissions and sinks, Adaptation and low
emission technologies , Economic Models, REDD+, Forestry and forest carbon stocks, Carbon
sequestration for communities Gender‐ sensitive capacity building allows both men and women
to contribute to climate change solutions, to adopt more environmentally friendly practices for
national level and household activities and to influence the behavior of the people around them.
Malawi believes that women should, however, not only be portrayed as victims of climate
change, but as fundamental actors in action against climate change. Women can be effective
agents of change through their roles as consumers, breadwinners, caretakers, entrepreneurs and 3
educators. Women possess important knowledge on sustainable practices and coping strategies
for their households, communities and their societies.
Matters to be addressed in the workshop
The priority sectors for Malawi in respect to gender responsive climate policy are:
a) Lima Work Program on Gender
This is the final year of the Lima Work Program on Gender. In this regard, the workshop should
explore ways and means of advancing the work that has been achieved in the two years and
proposed roadmap beyond the Lima Work Program on Gender in the following areas:

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Training for both female and male delegates on gender and climate change
Strengthening thematic areas that have already integrated gender and exploring further
actions on how to bring a gender lens on the remaining relevant thematic areas
Enhance the role of the secretariat in supporting gender and climate change
Focus so far on gender and climate change has been at global and strategic level. The
workshop should provide an opportunity of getting national and grassroots level lessons
and best practices in developing adaptation and capacity building actions that are gender

sensitive. This would allow delegates to share their experiences, best practices,
challenges and lessons learnt towards gender responsive climate actions
Case studies on adaptation actions, NAPAs and NAPs development and implementation:
gender analysis and responsiveness
b) Gender and capacity building for climate change
Participation of women delegates in UNFCCC processes such as conferences, participation in
UNFCCC and KP committees and boards is still under 50%. In addition some delegates do not
appreciate the importance of gender in the UNFCCC process.
The workshop should have a presentation on the status of women participation in the UNFCCC
processes and present an analysis of challenges that limit women’s participation in the UNFCCC
and that limits their participation in boards and committees. The workshop should also aim to
target male delegates to highlight their fears in promotion of gender balance in UNFCCC
processes and promoting gender responsive policies in adaptation, mitigation, capacity building,
finance and technology.
Selected organizations that provide training on gender and also those that provide capacity
building activities for women in climate change and science in general should provide outline of
their programs and how they can engage with delegates to further enhance knowledge on gender.
Furthermore, Malawi calls on the UNFCCC Secretariat to explore a series of training
opportunities to empower women in the climate change negotiations as well as on awareness
raising, with a special focus on engaging those from non-Annex I Parties. This should include
online training and other remote tools, as these may allow participation by those who do not
regularly attend UNFCCC sessions.