GVH Malungo leads by example in ending inequality

The debate on whether local leaders especially village heads, Group Village Heads and Traditional Authorities should be members of local structures or committees has been going on amongst development practitioners. Strongly, those in favorof such leaders being in committees argue that their (local leaders) involvement is one good way to provide checks and balances of the committees’ work. On the contrary, the other party advances the issues of power abuse by leaders in which ordinary members find it challenging to contribute their ideas as the leaders in the majority of time bulldozes their agenda.
The situation in the area of Traditional Authority Mkanda in Mchinji, particularly in Group Village Head Malungo, the case is in favor of those in support of local leaders being members of the committees. Sarah Kayera, who is the current Group Village Head Malungo is leaving no stone unturned in her efforts to curb gender inequality in her area. Predominantly, Malungo as a community has been characterized by early or teen marriages, violence against women cases and domination of men in leadership positions. The above factors have been promoting Gender Inequality in the area for over five years.
However, the situation has taken a different course following various efforts that Reducing Poverty and Inequality project is making in the area. Among other activities, the project built the capacity of Community Action Groups that comprise of local actors including traditional leaders for them to be agents of change in the fight against gender-based violence in order to address gender inequalities. Despite being the local leader, Sarah is one of the CAG members whom the project built her capacity.
Following the capacity building interventions, Sarah is taking affirmative actions in her community to ensure gender inequalities are addresses. As a traditional Leader, she has been conducting community-based awareness meetings on the dangers of gender-based violence, importance of girl child education, and the need to put women in leadership positions in her community. “In my community, I usually conduct awareness meeting through which I explain to my subjects the dangers of perpetrating gender-based violence,” explained Sarah.
Aside the meetings, she also takes initiatives to end teenage marriages in her community. “Teenage marriages are one of the reasons why we have more cases of gender-based violence in my community. As such, I make it a point that whenever there is a teen marriage, I summon the responsible parents, end the marriage and fine them,” she indicated adding that in the year 2024 alone, she managed to facilitate ending of 6 teen marriages where the concerned girls are back in school.
The story of Sarah Kayera who is Group Village Head Malungo in the area of Traditional Authority Mkanda in Mchinji is one of many stories that the project is registering both in T/A Mkanda and Mduwa. Concerned Youth Organization is implementing the project in partnership with Oxfam in Malawi with funding from Irish Aid.