By Vincent Gunde
The Cooperative Development Foundation of Canada is implementing the Voice of Women and Girls – a Volunteer Cooperation Program (VCP) in Malawi with funds from the Global Affairs of Canada (GAC).
The Voice of Women and Girls in Malawi is a Global Acceleration Project which is being implemented in partnership with the Malawi Federation of Cooperatives (MAFECO) – an apex body of cooperatives working in eight districts under the project: Lilongwe, Mchinji, Ntchisi, Dowa, Dedza, Machinga, Zomba and Mulanje.
This is an 8 year project from 2020 –Â 2028 targeting 16,040 direct beneficiaries from 34 cooperatives, 27 primary cooperatives, two Unions and five SACCOs focusing on capacity building of cooperatives.
Presenting the progress report on implementation of the Global Acceleration Project to the District executive committee (Dec) in Dowa, CDF Canada’s Country Program Officer Eliana Kanyika, said the project is being implemented in five countries: Malawi, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Senegal seeking to improve the economic wellbeing of the poorest, most marginalized, and vulnerable people particularly, women and girls, and empowering local partners to support beneficiaries through cooperatives.
Kanyika said the project has seen improved economic wellbeing of the poorest, most marginalized, and vulnerable women and girls in project countries with a view to contributing to Social Development Goals (SDGs).
She said the project has increased engagement of Canadians in international development to support the implementation of FIAP, and increased performance of country partners to deliver more inclusive, innovative, and environmentally sustainable development initiatives that advance gender equality in support of the action areas of Canada’s FIAP.
The Country Program Officer said Voice of Women and Girls in Dowa is targeting three primary cooperatives and one SACCO, Bowe, Majiga,Mthethe Cooperatives and on Tipindule SACCO, and it has identified areas of capacity building such as governance, business planning, good agricultural practices, financial management, marketing, and gender equality.
She said among the project activities conducted include effective leadership training for women leaders, governance training, environmentally/ sustainably training, Malawi business connect symposium, protection of gender related laws and male engagement strategy.
“The project is aligning with Socio -Economic Program (SEP) and District Development Plan (DDP) in gender mainstreaming and women empowerment and increasing average household income through strengthened cooperatives,” said Kanyika.
However, Kanyika said the project is meeting some challenges in the course of implementation such as inflation, limited synergy on implementation, volunteer recruitment, resistance on adoption, Cooperatives governance – interference from community leaders and poor governance – mismanagement of resources.
Focus for the year (April 2026 – March, 2027, Kanyika said the project will shift to cooperative specific targeted support using the coaching and mentorship approach, and areas of focus will include: governance, business planning, environmental sustainability saying the project will continue to provide specified support to the partners, and collaborative monitoring with relevant departments.
In his remarks, Dowa District Council’s Principal Environmental Officer Yusuf Laki, urged partners implementing various interventions in the district to be providing progress reports to Dec to enhance cooperation, transparency and accountability.
