Parliamentarian Training Programme for Malawi (1996-1999)
Background
Malawi is situated in Southern Africa. Under British rule until 1964, and thereafter a one party republic, Malawi became a multi-party democracy in 1993. The new constitution of Malawi makes reference to issues such as gender equality, non-discrimination, social policy, education, environmental issues and human rights. An Office of the Ombudsman as well as a Human Rights Commission has been established. The Government has launched a Democracy Consolidation Programme within which an Inter-Ministerial Committee on Human Rights has been created, and, added to this, the Government has decided to focus on strengthening the democratic institutions of Malawi.Summary
Launched in September 1996, this project was initially proposed by the Speaker of the National Assembly. The idea is to support the recently created democratic institutions by strengthening human resources, in this case the parliamentarians of Malawi. There are 177 Members of Parliament in the National Assembly, 9 of which are women. The heterogeneous background of these Members, ranging from doctorate and university degrees to a minimum of education, gives reason to believe that there is a need to reinforce the skills and knowledge of the parliamentarians. The first part of the Parliamentarian training programme for Malawi consists of six short-term training courses, where the aim is to provide 40 Members of Parliament with knowledge of priority national issues, training in how function effectively in Parliament, how to represent and put forth the needs of their constituencies.Partners
The Government of Malawi supports the project through human resource development activities also known as the OPC and the Office of the Speaker of the National Assembly of Malawi acts as an implementing partner in collaboration with the Office of the Principal Chancellor College at the University of Malawi. The University provides teaching staff and facilities for teaching, as well as the course syllabus. UNESCO provides technical and intellectual assistance. Finally, the project is funded by DANIDA complemented by UNDP funds.Activities
This project consisted of six three- week training courses over a two-year period, where the aim was to provide Members of Parliament (MPs) with knowledge of priority national issues, training in how to function effectively in Parliament, how to represent and put forth the needs of their constituencies.
Training was given at two levels, one tailor-made for MPs with higher education (tertiary level) and one for MPs with basic education.The first group should obtain basic knowledge and skills about democratic values, parliamentary procedures, key national issues and some communication skills; and the second group received an introduction to the four cluster areas of teaching and upgraded knowledge and skills in these areas.
Efforts were made to include all 9 female parliamentarians in the training programme taking into account the results of the Meeting of the Working Group to Increase Women's Representation and Consideration of Gender Issues within Parliaments in Southern Africa (25-27 April 1996).40 persons benefited from training on key issues within the following 4 cluster areas:
1. Communication and language skills, including how to relate to the media
2. Democracy, Governance and Human Rights
3. Financial Analysis and Economic Affairs
4. Gender Relations and IssuesThe training needs and interests of the participants were determined in collaboration with the particpants, which formed the basis for the University of Malawi to prepare a syllabus for each course in co-operation with the National Assembly and UNESCO. After each course, university staff evaluated the activities and results.
After this first phase, written and audio-visual materials were prepared within the four cluster areas. These teaching aids or modules are based on the results and evaluation of the first stage of the project and the aim is to produce four sets of material so as to facilitate future training of other parliamentarians.
Expected Impacts
It was envisaged that the members of parliament become well informed, skilled and confident in their work, among others by reinforcing the work of the participants by providing them with further knowledge and experience on key-issues related to the democratization process. In the long-term the democratization process of Malawi should benefit frorm a strenghtening in the knowledge and skills of parliamentarians, as well as the exchange of experiences between the National Assembly and the University of Malawi.Experience
There has been visible impacts on the performance of MPs in Parliament, the so-called "Chancellor College effect" means that the quality of their debates in Parliament has clearly improved. Due to this effect, UNDP decided to sponsor a second group to which UNESCO provided a review of the syllabus as well as preparation and finalization of training-modules.
This means that 53 parliamentarians took the second training course in 1999 and that 89 Members of parliament, including 6 women, benefited from the training programme. The first course was completed (17 weeks of training in all) and the 36 parliamentarians graduated in August 1998.
The first course was planned for 40 participants, however, due to the fact that two opposition parties did not attend Parliament during a period of political dispute, the total number of participants was 36. It may be added that, since then, there has been an improvement in dialogue and communication skills as a result of the programme.
Six out of nine women MPs participated in the programme, it may be added, that the three persons who have not benefited from the activites include 2 ministers and a Ph.D. who helped design the programme in the first place. The number of women benefiting from the course is thus satisfactory.