The Gender and Justice Unit (GJU) and the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) have formalised a partnership to strengthen access to information, human rights, and gender justice in Malawi, signing a Memorandum of Understanding in the MHRC Boardroom on 8th September 2026. The MoU sits within the Hivos-funded project Strengthening Digital Civic Spaces for Gender Justice Through Feminist Legal Empowerment and Community-Led Innovation, supported by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) under Hivos’ Connect, Defend, Act! Sustainable Action Fund. The project targets women human rights defenders, young people and persons with disabilities.
At its centre is the EmpowerVoice App, a digital platform designed to simplify Access to Information (ATI) requests, explain civic rights in plain language, and open a direct referral pathway for ATI-related complaints to the MHRC, the body that holds statutory oversight of the Access to Information Act.
By bringing together GJU’s experience in feminist legal empowerment and digital innovation with MHRC’s constitutional human rights mandate, the partnership aims to create more accessible pathways for women, young people and marginalised communities to reach information, support and remedies.
What the partnership will deliver
- EmpowerVoice App joint technical review and legal content development for the application.
- Referral pathways formal channels for citizens to submit ATI and gender-related complaints to the MHRC.
- Public awareness campaigns on the Access to Information Act (2016) and the Gender Equality Act (2013).
- Legal capacity building strengthening community-level legal knowledge and skills.
- Civic space advocacy promoting freedom of expression, association, assembly and press freedom.
- Research and stakeholder engagement including Pabwalo Town Hall dialogues and activities during the 16 Days of Activism campaign.
“The beginning of a shared journey”
Speaking at the ceremony, GJU Board Chairperson Lynda Ndovie-Jere described the MoU as “the beginning of a shared journey” towards strengthening digital civic spaces, advancing gender justice and building a more inclusive, accountable and rights-respecting Malawi. She noted that GJU, established in 2017, uses the law as a tool to empower marginalised groups (particularly women and young people who face structural barriers when engaging with public institutions) and expressed the hope that anyone who seeks information, meets a barrier, or wants to understand their civic rights will increasingly find accessible pathways to support and remedies.
MHRC Executive Secretary Habiba Osman stressed that the MoU creates an opportunity to better support civil society organisations working with women, youth and marginalised groups by improving their access to information and civic spaces for meaningful participation. She underlined the need for digital tools to be safe, inclusive, and accessible, citing findings from the 2023 National ICT Survey: only about 18% of Malawians actively use the internet, mobile phone ownership stands at roughly 56.6%, and 85.3% of people who experienced a cyber incident never reported it. Technology, she cautioned, must narrow, not widen, existing inequalities.
Why this matters
Malawi’s Access to Information Act gives every person the right to request information held by public bodies, and places oversight of the law with the MHRC — from raising public awareness to reviewing decisions where information is refused. Yet civil society has repeatedly flagged gaps between the law on paper and the law in practice, including under-resourcing of oversight and low public awareness. A partnership that links a feminist legal empowerment organisation directly with the oversight body, and puts a practical digital tool in people’s hands, is a concrete step toward closing that gap.
Together, we can make rights more accessible. Together, we can strengthen civic participation. Together, we can advance gender justice.
- About the Gender and Justice Unit: Founded in 2017, GJU uses the law as a tool for gender equality and social justice through legal empowerment, feminist advocacy, strategic litigation and digital innovation. GJU hosts MalawiLII.org, Malawi’s free legal information platform. genderandjustice.org
- About the Malawi Human Rights Commission: Established under the Constitution and operational since 1999, the MHRC promotes and protects human rights in Malawi, investigates violations, and holds oversight responsibilities under the Gender Equality Act and the Access to Information Act. mhrcmw.org