Gender Equality Forum

Meeting PlanGender Matters Campaign Report (Charlie)

Gender Equality Act Resource Update (Moira and Mairi)

Upcoming parliamentary elections: female representation (Active Learning Centre)

Per diems (Madeline and Charlie)

Forward Planning

Gender Matters Campaign Report

Gender Equality Forum

Gender Resource Tool• for use in Malawi schools to

help raise awareness of the Gender Equality Act (2013)

• for teachers to use with pupils– upper primary – secondary– girls and boys

• Mairi Brown appointed as writer– background in Community

Education

Shape of the tool• Will be a paper booklet

– later, a poster/s to supplement• Structure

– Introduction – Understanding Gender Issues – Understanding The Malawi Gender Equality Act– Practical activities:

• problem solving • co-operation • drama and • group activities

Gender Equality Forum

50:50 NDIYOTHEKA50:50 IS POSSIBLE

Malawi’s strategy to achieve gender equality in the 2014 tri-partite elections

50:50 NDIYOTHEKA

• Launched December 2013• Activities funded largely by Royal Norwegian Embassy

• Coordinated by NGO Gender Coordination Network

• Women aspirants/candidates for local government supported by the Scottish Government

• Delivered by the Active Learning Centre

Emwal team of trainers

The challenge

• 1994: 6% women elected to parliament• 1999: 9.3%• 2004: 14%• 2009: 22%

• No local government elections for 14 years

• International protocols (Africa Union, SADS) sets 50% as the target

Goal of 50 50 strategy

• To contribute to achieving that 50% target through:

• Enhanced awareness among political parties and others on the need to field and support women candidates

• Motivating women to stand• Mobilising the electorate to vote for women candidates

Activities• Identification of women aspiring candidates• Training of women MP and council aspirants• Advocacy meetings with district political party leaders• Advocacy meetings with traditional and religious leaders

in the districts• Orientation meetings with journalists• Profiling of women aspirants in the media• Community sensitization meetings• Gender sensitive monitoring of primaries, the campaign

period and the polling day• Provision of campaign materials

The biggest challenge

• Nomination papers have to be in for 10 – 14th February

• Political parties choose the candidates:

• DPP (completed) – 95 LC (467) and 45 MP (194)• MCP (ongoing) 12 LC and 16 MPs• PP (ongoing) 35% women

The power lies here

Gender Equality Forum

Per diems

Timeline for developing guidance:Nov/Dec 2013: Consulted MaSP MembersNov 2013-March 2014: Research and draft literature reviewFeb-March 2014: Consulted SMP MembersApril 2014: First draft of SMP per diems guidanceMay 2014: SMP event on per diems to discuss guidance June/July 2014: SMP final guidance on per diems published on SMP website

What is a ‘Per Diem’?

o Latin for ‘by the day’ o Daily determined allowance for extra

expenses incurred while working away from normal duty stations, including travel, lodging and meal costs (Norad 2010)

o Also known as ‘administrative modalities’ o Used by governments, the development and

private sector

Functions of Per Diems

1. Reimbursement of work-related expenses 2. Encouraging capacity-building and

professional development 3. Improve efficiency and reduce extra costs in

detailing exact expenses (‘paper push’)

Perceived benefits of per diems

o Fair compensation for costs incurredo Aids in the development of skills, sharing of

information, capacity-building o Providing incentive for those with low salaries

How have per diems been abused?

o Ranges from ‘survival coping strategy’ to fraud and corruption

o Abuse is generally understood at its root as connected with low-wages (Chene 2009)

o High level officials taking place of lower-level employees

o Failure of donors to standardise rates (Ridde 2010)

Short and Long-term effects

o Increased attendance, more productive training sessions and workshops

o But…..can also lead to ‘drain brain’ or ‘workshop syndrome’

o Feeds into low wage rates as per diems are viewed as salary supplements or coping strategies (feedback loop)

o Unhealthy institutional culture (Norad 2012) o Unequal playing field between larger development

organisations and smaller or locally-based NGOs

Input from MaSP members:• DEFINITIONS: a clearer definition of “per diems” was needed before a clear

position can be made. Different understandings of the term caused confusion.

• REFORM: look at per diems on a case by case basis, depending on the persons role, task, distance they have to travel, salary, etc.

• STANDARDISED SYSTEM: across NGOs (a report has recently been published by NGOs in Malawi seeking to standardise rates-this has been made available to the SMP).

• INCLUSIVITY: the absence of per diems can exclude those in rural areas from participating in meetings.

• ABUSE: Has led to people chasing allowances, instead of doing the work they are employed to do.

• SALARIES: per diems have skewed basic salary levels in Malawi• TRANSPARENCY• ADVICE: Malawian CSOs are looking for more advice and guidance for a

strandardised system.

Per Diems: FAQs • What is a per diem?• Where did the practice of paying per

diems originate from?• What are the perceived benefits of

paying per diems?• How have/can per diems be abused?• What is the short-term impact of

paying per diems?• What is the long-term impact of

paying per diems?• What have been some of the

experiences of SMP members?• What is the position of the Malawi

Government in paying per diems? • What is the position of international

NGOs in Malawi on paying per

diems? • Is there a typical rate at which per

diems are paid? • What is the position of MaSP on

paying per diems?• What is SMP’s position? • What is the position of the Scottish

Government? How has the challenge of paying per diems been addressed/what are some practical suggestions?

• Where can I read more about research on per diems?

• Where can I get further advice? •

Discussion Questions• Has the issue of per diems come up in your particular link with

Malawi? Has this been a problem? If so how?• Has your link developed productive and sustainable practices to

address the challenge of per diems? Please give examples. • Does the proposed format of FAQs on per diems provide the

information you need to make informed decisions about per diems. If not what other information (statistics, current rates, academic literature) would you like to have in order to make informed decisions about per diems?

• What form would this be most useful in (pamphlet, research paper, web page, etc)?

• Would you attend a specific event with other SMP members looking at the topic of per diems. If so what content should be included in the event?

Gender Equality Forum