Malawi 2011 Grantee Profiles

Chilimba Women and Orphans Care Group

Project Title: Tiwale Advocacy Project

This project, led by village chief and AGALI Fellow Christopher Mtima, focuses on changing traditional practices at the community level. Advocating with other chiefs and local leaders in the Zomba district of Malawi, the Chilimba Women and Orphans Care Group is working to modify and develop alternatives to traditional initiation practices that negatively impact adolescent girls.

Foundation for Community Support Services (FOCUS)

Project Title: Adolescent Girls Rights Empowerment Project (AGREP)

AGALI Fellow Esther Munthali and her organization, the Foundation for Community Support Services (FOCUS) are advocating with to raise the legal age of marriage from 14 to 18 years in Malawi by working with traditional leaders and members of Parliament from the Karonga District of Malawi to pass the revised national Marriage Act. FOCUS is also working with adolescent girls to build their capacity to advocate for their own needs and to participate in advocacy activities aimed at passing the Marriage Act.

Girls Empowerment Network (GENET)

Project Title: Stop Child Marriage Project

Led by AGALI Fellow Faith Phiri, the Girls Empowerment Network (GENET)’s Stop Child Marriage Project is providing families and community leaders with a platform to review and modify customary laws pertaining to child marriage. GENET’s goal is to reduce the incidence of child marriages by 10% among rural adolescent girls ages 10-18 years in Malawi’s Chiradzulo District.

Sub-Saharan Child and Community Development Trust (SACCODE)

Project Title: Improving Marginalized and Vulnerable Adolescent Girls’ Access to Education in Ntchisi, Rural Malawi

In the Ntchisi District of Malawi, only 1% of girls ages 10-18 attend secondary school. One of the major contributing factors to this is the lack of adequate and accessible school facilities. AGALI Fellow Tawina Kamanga, and the Sub-Saharan Child and Community Development Trust (SACCODE) are advocating with district education authorities to improve adolescent girls’ access to education. This project aims at expanding educational opportunities for rural adolescent girls through improved resource allocation for school infrastructure development.