On 12th February 2025, we engaged various stakeholders in the arts and culture sector to orient them on the project on "Mainstreaming Gender Equality in Malawi's Arts and Culture sector', which the Department of Arts is implementing with funding from UNESCO’s International Fund for Cultural Diversity. The meeting brought together stakeholders comprising leaders of artist associations, civil society organizations, entrepreneurs and individual practitioners. We were also grateful to have in our midst representation from the Malawi's Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare, as well as the Malawi National Commission for UNESCO.
At the meeting, stakeholders were informed of the project’s scope, including activities, objectives and expected outcomes. In the ensuing discussions, participants express hope that the project will help to address the gender imbalance that exists in the sector. They also committed to promote collaborations to ensure sustainability of the project's results.
Mainstreaming Gender Equality in Malawi's Arts and Culture Sector is a one-year project that aims to strengthen individual and institutional capacity for mainstreaming gender equality in Malawi's arts and culture sector. Among others, the project will facilitate training workshops for individual artists in a number of areas including art business development and entrepreneurship, art branding, packaging and marketing, artistic freedom. Women creatives will also be trained on Electronic Transactions and Cyber Security Act, the Gender Equality Act and other Relevant pieces of legislation.
At institutional level, the project will work with artist associations to develop their capacities for mainstreaming gender equality. Activities will include a review of associations’ constitutions to ensure that they have provisions that support gender equality, and the establishment of gender desk offices in all associations and at the Department. The project will also support the associations with ICT equipment to support in promoting the visibility of works of women creatives in Malawi
