Malawi Media Women's Association

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The Malawi Media Women's Association (MAMWA) was founded by Janet Karim. The organisation organised its own radio station, improving the access of rural women in Malawi to current affairs. Edyth Kambalame was the interim President of the Association for Women in Media (Awome) in 2020.

Contents

History

The association was created by Janet Karim. She was a Chancellor College graduate who had started Malawi's first magazine for women and the Independent newspaper. [1] She was encouraged by Esnath Kaliyati who was the first female Principal Secretary in the Government of Malawi. [2] Karim formed the group with herself as chair, veteran broadcaster Nyokase Madise as vice-chair and Stella Mhura as secretary. The first meeting attracted fifteen other women journalists who all wanted to become members. [3]

In 2000 Stella Mhura was the chair and she campaigned against the discrimination shown to women journalists in Malawi. They organised demonstrations in the main cities of Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu. [4] Women are very poorly represented in Southern African media and in Malawi in particular. Three quarters of people in media are male and the proportion in management is even less. [5]

MAMWA helped establish the Dzimwe Community Radio station in 1998 in Mangochi, [6] with assistance from UNESCO and later USAID. [7] [8] [9] . MAMWA is credited with improving the access to radio for women living in rural Malawi. The radio is their best source of news and in some cases groups meet to discuss the resulting issues. [5] In 2002 Karim announced USAID money given to fund four clubs for rural listeners. [9]

Leadership

Edyth Kambalame who was the Deputy Editor of The Nation newspaper was the interim President of the Association for Women in Media (Awome) in 2020. [10] In 2025 the chair was Dorothy Kachitsa.

References

  1. ↑ Lwanda, John (2002). "Paper Tigers: The Rise and Fall of the Independent Media in Malawi, 1961 - 2001". The Society of Malawi Journal. 55 (1): 1–23. ISSN   0037-993X.
  2. ↑ "Fountain of Life :: Esnath Kalyati". www.mwfountainoflife.org. Retrieved 2025-10-27.
  3. ↑ "Preparing for the women's UN conferences, media women, and Cairo". Nation Online. 2020-12-11. Retrieved 2025-10-27.
  4. ↑ Tenthani, Raphael (6 March 2000). "Malawi: Female Reporters Decry Male Chauvinism In Malawi". AllAfrica. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  5. 1 2 "Glass Ceilings: Men and Women in Southern Africa Media" (PDF). Gender Links. 2009. Retrieved 27 October 2025.
  6. ↑ Manyozo, Linje (2007). "Local rural radio as a development radio: an exemplar of Dzimwe community radio in Malawi". Communication for Development and Social Change. 1 (2): 167–192. ISSN   1555-8711.
  7. ↑ Kalinga, Owen J. M. (2012). Historical dictionary of Malawi (4th ed.). Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. ISBN   978-0-8108-7531-9. OCLC   828424320.
  8. ↑ Simutowe, Yamikani (2015-07-07). "Armed robbers attack ex-diplomat to UN Janet Karim, MRA official in Blantyre". Nyasa Times. Retrieved 2025-10-27.
  9. 1 2 "Malawi: Getting the Views of Rural Women on the Air". pambazuka.org. Retrieved 2025-10-27.
  10. ↑ "WINner's view: Edyth Kambalame - "Women journalists must aim to make a difference"". WAN-IFRA. 2020-07-21. Retrieved 2025-11-03.
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