Salima Womens Network on Gender
The Salima Women’s Network (SAWEG) was formed in 2005 by a group of women in the Salima district, about an hour east of the capital, Lilongwe.
The Network envisions a life where women and girls are free from gender-based violence and is addressing education for women and girls, the rights of women & food security and, of course, HIV and AIDS.
This is a broad-based agenda encompassing social, cultural, economic, political and health issues. Yet it is this holistic approach that makes SAWEG such an impressive community organization. These committed women are brave, dedicated and visionary. Their efforts and successes ripple out right through their entire locality and beyond. For example, a key aspect of their mission is focused on education. They have formed Girls Clubs and Mothers Clubs which provide a forum for matters affecting the education of women and actively try to bring females back into formal schooling, when the MM3 team visited in May 2008 we met a lady who had only recently learned to read at the age of 54.
In addition the Network is providing training sessions to school management committees on how to address violence against girls and women.
Salima is a trading town and the incidence of HIV and AIDS is unacceptably high, particularly among poorer women who are especially vulnerable to infection. The Network has established help groups around the district where women can address and find solutions to the spread of the virus.
Despite the fact that over 80% of the farming is done by women in Malawi, they do not control the land, nor do they have a say over the distribution of crops. The Network is working with women farmers to ensure that they have food security and access to farm inputs.
ActionAId is directly supporting several worthwhile SAWEG programmes. But in effect, we are merely giving these women a little help to help themselves, and that is such a positive story in itself.
To learn more about the women of SAWEG check out the Gallery.
