Malawi Progress Report 2016-2018
- Action Plan: Malawi National Action Plan 2016-2018
- Dates Under Review: 2016-2017
- Report Publication Year: 2018
- Researcher: IRM Staff
The commitments in Malawi’s first action plan mostly included vaguely worded indicators rather than measurable activities, making implementation difficult to determine and limiting potential impact. While a National Steering Committee existed during action plan development, it did not meet during implementation.
Highlights
| Freedom of Information | This commitment aims to pass the Access to Information (ATI) Bill in Parliament. Passage of the ATI Bill is a major achievement for civil society, and it will improve transparency and accountability in Malawi. |
| Extractives Industries Transparency Initiative | This commitment aims for Malawi to join EITI as a candidate country. The extractives sector is expected to grow significantly in Malawi, thus incentivizing transparency and accountability in this area. |
Process
Development of Malawi’s first action plan occurred primarily during an October 2014 meeting that involved a limited number of government and civil society stakeholders. A National Steering Committee, consisting of government and civil society representatives, submitted the final action plan for approval, but has not met during implementation.
Performance
Most commitments in Malawi’s first action plan contained vague implementation activities, which lowered their potential impact and made their implementation levels difficult to assess. Future action plans could build on priority areas from the first plan, like access to information and extractives sector transparency, by including measurable and verifiable implementation activities.
IRM Recommendations
- Reinvigorate the National OGP Steering Committee
- Include activities that offer additional value to already planned activities
- Ensure capacity to implement ATI
- Improve commitment design
- Use OGP to advance priorities in Malawi
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