Highlights from a groundbreaking study Context and research strategy It is now nearly a decade since Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, both legally recognised as male, were arrested for holding a traditional wedding ceremony which triggered a contentious public debate on whether people who do not conform to heterosexual norms are entitled to human rights in Malawi. The debate has been dominated by calls for unequivocal rejection of ‘homosexuality’, countered by a fewer

In commemoration of World AIDS Day 2019. With approximately 38,000 new HIV infections recorded in 2018 in Malawi, the fight against AIDS in the country is only symptomatic of how its victory is scooching farther away from being reached. It’s true that this reflects a significant drop in all newly recorded annual infections (which were approximately 58,000 in 2003), yet it remains significant enough to amplify the scare the disease that has ravaged our country for decades pose

“The discrimination and criminalization of same sex relations, regardless of whatever colonized cultural and religious reasons we may conjure to justify this debauchery, is reflective of the failure of our claimed democracy which prioritizes the protection of the minority over the greed of the majority.” ~ Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Although feminism seems to have picked up steam in our neoliberal world, and more in the wake of the #MeToo movement, the behavioral notion dates

Barely four years since President Jacob Zuma addressed the South African Parliament on xenophobic killings, what he sketchily termed violence and restraint, South Africans have, again, taken to the streets to root out foreigners believed to be taking more than their fair share of their country’s pleasantries. Although unconfirmed, it’s believed that at least two Malawians have been killed in a spat of xenophobic attacks that are being fanned by anti-immigration rhetoric amids

The proliferation of contemporary Christian churches has grown steadily since the late 1980s, skyrocketing alongside democratization in the early 1990s like the privatization of state-owned companies responding to structural adjustment programs. Ever since, Christian churches other than the Roman Catholic (RC) Church have become introduced to bishops and prophets who lead almost every known contemporary charismatic outfit today. Pentecostal leaders – even when they are flat,

It's not uncommon to hear development practitioners preaching gender equality in the context of the missed development opportunities that result from the traditional neglect of women in development. To rights-oriented practitioners, such rhetoric is dangerous. And it usually misses a key point in the realization of women’s progress as a right in itself, where the focus of development must be gender equality and not the development benefits it brings. Women are and have always

An Austrian youngster walks into her parents’ house at 8 on a Sunday morning. Her dad, in the kitchen, goes, “did you enjoy your party, last night, dear?” To this she says, “yes, dad!” “Did you have sex?” “Oh, yes!” “Well, I hope you remembered your condoms, schatz…but I hope you enjoyed it!” Not the typical conversation in a Malawian family, let alone to say an ideal one. So, what’s what about Malawi? Our country is conspicuously burdened by HIV and AIDS, sexually-transmitte

In commemoration of the 2018 World AIDS Day. A fast-growing population in Malawi is the major feature that’s making the HIV/AIDS situation appear to be improving. However, according to 2017 UNAIDS statistics, the number of people living with HIV and AIDS (PLHAs) continues to soar, albeit flattening out as the rate of new infections slows down. Between 2016 and 2017 alone, UNAIDS reports that new annual infections fell from 36,000 to 34,000. However, the total number of PLHAs

For a few Malawians, it is not too astonishing to hear that the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) offers a Chichewa program at the distinguished institution’s Center for African Studies. At this center, more African languages are taught, among which are Xhosa, Swahili and Amharic. The fact that the language is offered at the university at all is symbolic enough of the presence of Malawians who’re working to advance the language training for the center. The reci

Blantyre city, just after dusk - a family is gathered in the living room, around a television set. Two heterosexual working parents, 3 children aged between 2 and 7. One child, the eldest one is glued to the screen of an iPad, streaming Anime series; the other two play with toy lightsabers their mother bought for them following an enchantment of Star Wars movies. On the floor, all across the thick brown carpet are monster trucks, toy guns and dolls with blue eyes, lean bodies

This article represents the views of the author and not of any other institution or person. A little more than week ago, I was on a ZBS Radio-managed WhatsApp group chat whose participants are the regular you and me. This WhatsApp group mainly generates and solicits opinions that otherwise would inform the content of public discussions or current affairs that the radio airs. On this particular chat I refer to, someone posted a picture of a political rally that took place in M

The headlines on the news the other night told us of the planned demonstrations for the coming months. In particular, the Teachers Union of Malawi (TUM) were orchestrating a nationwide demonstration for unpaid salary arrears while a group of NGOs was planning theirs as a follow up to the requests, pleas and ultimatums that were presented to the government during the April 2018 demonstrations. The other week, the headlines were all about just how much money has been released b

The Malawi labour force is clogged with jobseekers that will take a long time to be matched by vacancies, if they will be matched at all. A significant proportion of these jobseekers must contend with very high employer expectations for jobs that will neither require the high level of expertise they advertise nor compensate workers accordingly with the corresponding demanded effort. Usually, such high expectations are made alongside a lengthy list of professional experience t

There is a less sensual side of the gender inequality conversation much of the expertise employed to work on the social problem conveniently ignores: one that puts gender rhetoric and “men as potential victims” of the imposition of gendered social norms in the same place. It is one that must not be confused with the engagement of men and boys with a singular view to ameliorate the lives of women and girls, but one that must sometimes make men the sole focus for their own good

The modern city is the quintessential symbol of human progress, a loud indicator of a country’s willingness and readiness to spring to the future or languish in the past. The one universal constant of our age happens to be one of society’s resolute determination towards urbanization, a reality that both developed and developing countries will share for ages to come. Despite this otherwise normally welcome dynamic, cities of the world will parallel this progression with the st

I approached the traffic lights slowly. I was driving home from work. The lights were on red. I always try to beat the time when approaching traffic lights by driving slowly so that I don’t come to a complete stop or stay too long. Although it was only 5 p.m. and darkness far from registering, I always fear stopping at this particular spot. For me, it never matters whether it’s day or night, this spot makes me uncomfortable. It instils fear in me. Not because of a particular