Table of Contents
The Spotlight Initiative in Malawi is dedicated to eliminating violence against women and girls (VAWG). Outcome Five of the initiative, led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is quality disaggregated and globally comparable data on different forms of VAWG, including sexual and gender- based violence (SGBV) and harmful traditional practices, collected, analyzed, and used in line with international standards, to inform laws, policies, and programmes.
To support this outcome and above activity, UNDP has commissioned an assessment of the current
Malawian data management systems for SGBV.
The purpose of this assessment is to
• take stock of where the country currently stands regarding its management of this data • identify good and emerging practices, as well as gaps and areas for improvement • provide recommendations for improved data management, including legal and policy decisions and new programmes.
About this Assessment #
This document is a predominantly qualitative assessment of existing data systems, stakeholders,
processes, and tools, including perspectives and priorities of the different organisations and
individuals involved in SGBV and SRHR data management.
The assessment looks at the needs of the district service providers in six pilot districts in the three
regions: (Central) Dowa and Ntchisi; (North) Mzimba and Nkhata Bay; and (South) Machinga and
Nsanje. The assessment also involved visits to organisations in Blantyre, Lilongwe, and Zomba to look
at national-level systems and needs.
Analysis Performed #
The team identified core stakeholders in Malawi SGBV data during this assessment. The team also
performed a SGBV data system inventory and associated analysis, including a review of different data
classification systems compared to international standards. The team also identified some core
definitions, format, and structure of SGBV and SRH data used in Malawi to help inform future data
managers. The team also mapped existing data collection, sharing and storage of SGBV and SRHR data
by different stakeholders, and performed a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats
(SWOT) analysis of the SGBV/SRHR systems.
Key Conclusions #
Conclusion 1: Current SGBV data systems are siloed and not sustainable The team found that most SGBV data systems (paper and digital) are siloed based on government ministries, donors and implementers. For example, the Malawi Police Commission’s Victims Support Unit (VSU) has a set of forms and registers which do not overlap in content, structure, or access to the data with the Ministry of Gender, Child Development and Community Development’s Social Welfare Office. Similarly, the YONECO Helpline database does not use the same classification criteria used by other parts of the SGBV response community. There were also multiple examples of donor or NGO systems being migrated to Government partners, resulting in concerns about sustainability. Examples included both paper and digital systems, as paper- based systems needed custom registers and forms to support their usage.
