The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the European Union (EU) have been supporting the Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare (MoGCDSW) to implement the Gender Equality and Women Empowerment (GEWE) Programme in Malawi. The programme aims to support Government’s commitment to reduce gender inequalities between men, women and youths (girls and boys) in accessing productive resources and development opportunities, as well as promoting decision making in order to contribute positively to the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) and accelerate attainment of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). 

The purpose of the impact evaluation is to assess changes that the programme has brought to the participating institutions (Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, National AIDS Commission and 13 District Councils), Police officers, Magistrates, Social Welfare Officers, individuals, households and communities in the 13 target districts that were directly or indirectly reached by the programme. This evaluation exercise seeks to demonstrate if the targeted beneficiaries in the 13 target districts are better off or worse off now as compared to those that were not targeted by the programme by establishing causal links between interventions implemented and outcomes realised. Specifically, the impact evaluation exercise seeks to assess the impact of different interventions implemented by the programme on (i) strengthening the capacity for gender mainstreaming in the priority sectors; (ii) promotion of gender equality and equity among men, women and youths through economic, social and legal empowerment; and (iii) understanding and addressing social-cultural practices and behaviours that predispose men and women to HIV and Gender Based Violence.