Papers by asiyati chiweza
Routledge Handbook of Public Policy in Africa, 2021
AfricAn food Security urbAn network (AfSun) urbAn food Security SerieS no. 2
Despite an increase in the number of countries that have adopted women’s caucuses in sub-Saharan ... more Despite an increase in the number of countries that have adopted women’s caucuses in sub-Saharan Africa, there is still little empirical knowledge about how they operate and under which conditions they are most effective in achieving pro-women legislation. This brief explores the role of the Malawian cross-party parliamentary women’s caucus in enacting women friendly legislation under varying circumstances, from its inception in 1996 until 2014. The caucus has been most effective when the members have been able to act in unison and work closely with external actors. Yet the role of the caucus in ensuring substantive outcomes is not indispensable and may be circumvented by the combined actions of women’s organizations, donors and individual key actors in parliament. 1994
Cover photograph by Jonathan Crush. Maputo market trader selling chickens from Brazil Production ... more Cover photograph by Jonathan Crush. Maputo market trader selling chickens from Brazil Production by Bronwen Müller, Cape Town All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior permission from the publisher.
Political Transition and Inclusive Development in Malawi
African Affairs
This article discusses the purposes and drivers of handouts in party primaries in Malawi. We argu... more This article discusses the purposes and drivers of handouts in party primaries in Malawi. We argue that existing explanations of handouts are incomplete because they are developed to identify dynamics in presidential or legislative elections. Rules of national elections are constitutionally protected, and their fairness is monitored by both local and international observers. In contrast, rules guiding candidate selection in parties are less institutionalized, and, in some contexts, such as Malawi, a secret ballot cannot be taken for granted. This underlines the need for empirical studies of the logic of handouts at the candidate selection stage to study how differences in institutional context affect the strategic choices behind engaging in the practice. We demonstrate why such an analysis needs to be informed by an in-depth knowledge about the party organizations in which the candidate selection process itself takes place. Through qualitative interviews with members of selectorates...
State Recognition and Democratization in Sub-Saharan Africa
BMC Health Services Research
Background The majority of documented social accountability initiatives to date have been ‘tactic... more Background The majority of documented social accountability initiatives to date have been ‘tactical’ in nature, employing single-tool, mostly community-based approaches. This article provides lessons from a ‘strategic’, multi-tool, multi-level social accountability project: UNICEF’s ‘Social Accountability for Every Woman Every Child’ intervention in Malawi. Methods The project targeted the national, district and community levels. Three Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) were engaged to carry out interventions using various tools to generate evidence and political advocacy at one or more levels. This article focuses on one of the social accountability methods – the bwalo forum (a meeting based on a traditional Malawian method of dialogue). A detailed political economy analysis was conducted by one of the co-authors using qualitative methods including interviews and group discussions. The authors conducted in-country consultations and analysed secondary data provided by the CSOs. Resu...
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Papers by asiyati chiweza