Women’s Representation and Participation in Decisions Making Positions: The Case of Malawi Public Service

The focus of this essay is to highlight the negative impact of trivialization of gender mainstreaming in human resource functions which is making gender issues to be unnoticeable thereby negatively impacting on women in the public service. Specifically, the aim is to challenge systems and processes which perpetuate the gendered power asymmetries in the public service which take the form of under-representation and; low and poor participation of women in decision making echelons and processes that influence national policy direction. The overall goal is to make gender an integral part of all strategic functions thereby positively contributing to improving the status and profile of women as we strive towards gender equality in the public service. Desk research has revealed that the existing gender imbalances are a result of several challenges such as existing gap between legal frameworks and policies, lack of clear objectives and standards of performance on gender mainstreaming efforts, lack of monitoring and evaluation to ensure accountability, lack of a reward and sanctions system that recognizes gender mainstreaming efforts and absence of specific targets on women’s representation. It is against this background that being influenced by public administration and; gender and development theoretical frameworks while emphasising on accountability and results oriented management and gender mainstreaming in strategic systems and processes, a set of recommendations are drawn. Recommendations for improvement are based on best practice approaches in advancing gender equality that have worked in other countries, which can then be adapted and adopted in the Malawian context. These include mainstreaming of gender in strategic planning, increased and improved accountability, use of incentives and harmonizing legislative frameworks and policies have been advocated in this essay in order to ensure consistent and effective implementation and progress towards gender equality.