Social Studies Form 3

SOCIAL AND DEVELOPMENT
STUDIES
A 2019 FELIX LISAUSYO PRODUCTION
Felixlisa.usyo@gmail.com
UNIT 1
ASPECTS OF DEVELOPMENT
Meaning of development
Development refers to the sustained elevation of an entire society an ( its social systems towards a better or
more humane life. The objectives of development are:
 to increase the availability and widen the distribution of life sustaining goods such as food,
shelter, health and protection.
 the other objectives of development are to raise the levels of living of all people and to
expand the range of economic and social choices available to individuals and nations.
Traditionally development has been viewed as the economic progress of a country. Development
meant that a country was able to achieve and sustain an annual increase in its production levels of
5-7% or more. While economic progress is an essential component, true development is
multidimensional in nature. It must encompass more than the material and financial side of
people's lives.
Development is the sustained elevation of an entire society and social system towards a better
more mane life. It must also be viewed as the acceleration of economic growth, the reduction of
inequality and the eradication of absolute poverty. It is the transformation of society.
Objectives of development
Development helps to increase the availability and widen the distribution of basic life-sustaining
goods such as food, shelter, health anti protection.
The other objective of development is to raise the levels of living by providing higher incomes,
the provision of more jobs, better education and greater attention to humanistic values. All these
will serve to enhance the material well-being of people as well as help generate greater
individual and national self-esteem.
Development helps to expand the range of economic and social choices available to individuals
and nations. It does that by freeing people from external dependence and internal servitude.
Dimensions of development
Political development: Development cannot proceed easily in societies where conflicts and
political instability are at the center of life. The absence of peace and political stability often leads
societies to devote a higher percentage of their budget to the military, than to development needs
in, for example, health, education or agriculture.
Economic development: Economic growth is the engine of development as a whole. Without
economic growth there can be no sustained increase in household or government consumption,
in private or public capital formation as well as in health and security levels.
.
-3-
Technological development: In order for development to take place it requires additional
resources as well as increased productivity and a wider variety of goods and services.
Therefore sustained development depends on new technologies.
Social development: development affects all aspects of society. People are a country's principal
assets. Their well-being defines development. Their energy and initiative drive development.
Their characteristics determine the nature and direction of sustainable human development.
Actors in development
 The state or government bears primary responsibility for its own development.
Development requires competent governmental leadership, coherent national policies
FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

and a strong popular commitment.
 Development requires international cooperation and it requires that other actors assist the
government in its efforts. Such assistance could come from other countries and
international institutions.
 Communities, families and individuals, have a role to play in the development of their
countries and societies.
Locus of development
Often countries formulate a development strategy. A development strategy must include
components aimed at developing the private sector, the public sector, the community, the family
and the individual.
Private sector development: The key objective is the creation of a strong, competitive, stable and
efficient private sector. Among the elements, which advance this objective, are a legal
infrastructure, which can provide and enforce commercial law: stable economic policies, and an
effective financial system. A key part of the environment is the quality of the labor-force; an
educated, healthy workforce is essential.
Public sector development: A development strategy needs to pay attention to the public sector.
After all if the government cannot manage its own affairs how can it manage the affairs of others?
The key question behind the strategy for the public sector is to identify the role of government -
both what the government should do and how it should do it.
Community development: While certain activities are most effectively undertaken at the national
or international level, much of life centres around communities which are often the most effective
vehicle for bringing about the transformation of a society. Well-designed development projects
can be a catalyst for community development. Participation at the community level allows the
project choice to reflect the needs and preferences within the community.
Development of the family: The family is the basic unit of a society and plays a key role in
development. The family, therefore, needs to be strengthened by giving attention to the rights,
capabilities and responsibilities of its members. The development of the family need to
encompass all the family members including its female members. Women play a key role in the
bringing up of their children. They are responsible for the education, nutrition, as well as the
health of their children. Efforts geared at developing female members of the family need to be
given a priority.
Individual's development: In the end, the transformation of a society entails transformation in
.
-4-
the way individuals think and behave. Development entails the empowerment of individuals, so
that they haw more control over the forces that affect their lives. Education and health are at the
centre of efforts aimed at the development of individuals.

UNIT 2
SOCIAL & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Meaning of social and economic development
Social development refers to development in the general well-being of people and their societies.
It looks at improving the living standards of people. Social development is central to the needs
and aspirations of people throughout the world.
Economic development on the other hand is economic growth combined with improvements in
the living standards of people. You should not confuse economic development with economic
growth. Economic growth occurs where there is an increase in the amount of goods and services
produced by a country. This is normally measured over a period of one year. Economic growth
on its own is not economic development. This is because economic growth does not take into
account how the wealth of a nation is distributed.
Economic development and social development are therefore related so much that they are often
referred to as socio-economic development. Social development cannot be attained in the absence
of economic development. The achievement of sustained social development requires sound
broadly based economic policies.
INDICATORS OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Educational Indicators
Adult literacy rate: Is the percentage of people aged 15 and above who can read and write.
School enrolment ratio: Is the number of children of official school age enrolled in primary or
secondary school, expressed as a percent of the number of children of official school age for
those levels in the population.
School dropout rate: Is the percentage of students who drop out before completing a
particular cycle like primary school or secondary school.
High adult literacy rate, high school enrollment ratio and low school drop out rate are all good
for social-economic development as education is very important for development. It affects the
rate of economic and social development. This is because education helps in the provision of
semi-skilled and skilled labor force that is needed in ' the production of goods and services.
Education has impact on income earning potential of an individual. Well educated people
contribute effectively to the development of their communities.
Education has also an effect on fertility levels of women. The more educated a woman is the
less the number of children she is likely to have because of time spent at school and the
subsequent work commitments.
Health, Indicators
Percentage of population with access to safe water: Safe water is very important for good health.
.
-5-
Contaminated water causes a lot of ill ' health in many societies.
Percentage of population with access to sanitation: Adequate facilities for disposal of waste
helps to prevent human, animal and insect contact with excreta. Suitable facilities range from
simple but protected pit latrines to flush toilets with sewerage. To be effective all facilities need
to be correctly constructed and maintained.
Infant mortality rate (IMR): This is the number of infants who die before reaching one year of

age, expressed per 1,000 live births in a given year.
Maternal mortality ratio: This is the number of women who die during pregnancy or child birth,
and is expressed per 100,000 live births.
Life expectancy at birth: This is the number of years that a person would live based on
statistical probability.
In developed societies life expectancy is high because the percentage of population with access to
safe water and sanitation is also high. On the other hand Infant mortality rate, maternal mortality
ratio, and prevalence of child malnutrition are low.
Good health is an important indicator of social-economic development. This is because only
healthy people can contribute to the development of their country. You need a healthy labour
force if you are to increase production levels. Good health is particularly important at childhood
level. This is because good health is important for a child's mental and physical development.
Crime rate: In a socio-economically developed society crime rate is likely to be down. High
incidence of poverty is one of the major causes of high crime rate especially robberies.
Infrastructure: The presence of social and economic infrastructure is a good indicator of social
and economic development. Examples of these include schools, hospitals, and financial
institutions like banks.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross National Product (GNP): Gross domestic product and
gross national product are important economic indicators. The total income or output of a country
is usually measured in GDP and GNP. GDP measures the value of total output produced by
factors of production located in the domestic economy regardless of who owns these factors. GNP
measures the total domestic and foreign output claimed by residents of a country. Growth in
GNP and GDP are an indication that the economy is growing. GDP and GNP are measured
normally over some period usually a year.
GNP per capita: It is the total GNP of a country divided by the total population. If a country does
not produce a lot the income per person will be low. The same applies if the population is big.
Where the population is big the total product of a country has to be divided among a lot of
people. In this case the GNP per capita will be low.
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES IN THE COMMUNITY AND
THEIR IMPACT
The achievement of social economic development requires sound economic policies and
investments. The most productive policies and investments are those that empower people to
maximize their capacities, resources and opportunities.
FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Market liberalization: This refers to the removal of barriers to trade: Market liberalization helps
in bringing about a lot of actors in the market place. The more the people and companies
.
-6-
involved in businesses the more the people who will share in the economic progress of a country.
Privatization: This is the process of moving activity from public sector to the private sector. The
advantage of privatization is that it encourages private ownership of productive resources. This
means that wealth is not just owned by the government but also by the ordinary
people of a country who may own shares in the private companies.
Industrialization: The process of expanding the country's capacity to produce secondary goods
and services is known as industralisation. Industrialisation helps to create more industrial
employment opportunities for people and therefore, more opportunities for earning income.
Import substitution- The government attempts to replace imports with domestically produced
goods through this policy which builds on industrialisation.
Distribution of income or consumption: The existence of disproportionate distribution of total
national income among households is an indication of high level of under-development whereby
the share going to rich people in a country is far greater than that going to the poorer people.
Unemployment levels: There is a very close relationship between high levels of unemployment
and widespread poverty. Economic policies that promote the creation of employment
opportunities can help in the alleviation of poverty.

In a socio-economically developed society you would also expect the people to have adequate
and proper housing as well as enough food throughout the year. Houses that leak and are not
well ventilated are a health hazard to the people living in them. Food insecurity is the major
contributor to high levels of mortality as it leads to poor nutritional status.
Urbanization: This refers to the economic and demographic process involved in the growth of
towns and cities. Growth of economic activities in cities, which are often brought about by
industrialization, leads to the migration of people from rural areas to the urban areas. The people
are needed to work in the expanding industries.
Taxation: Government tax policies are very important in deciding the levels of social and
economic development. The tax revenue that government levies on private individuals,
corporations and property used to finance public services such as health, education, transport,
communication, and other components of the economic and social infrastructure. High taxation
levels, however, can act as a hindrance investors. A lot of companies would not want to invest in
countries where they will be deducted a lot of money in taxes.
Peace and stability: Peace and stability are important factors of social and economic
development of a country. Both domestic and foreign investors would not want to invest their
resources in countries or areas where they feel their investment is insecure.
Availability of resources: In order to develop economically and socially, there is need for
resources both financial and non-financial. Finances are needed in providing for public
services and also by the private sector if they are to make investments. Non-financial
resources such as educated workforce and natural resources are all important for
development. Economic development can hardly take place where there is poor human
resource capacity.
.
-7-
Management of resources: Having resources is important for economic development. However
having resources without their proper management can do little to achieve sustainable
development. Natural resources, financial resources, and all other resources need to be
managed well if they are to contribute to economic and social development.
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT
Politics is about control, power and authority. Basically power and control refer to the ability to
cause others to change their behaviour and do what the power holder wants. Authority on the
other hand is slightly different from power in that it refers to the right to enforce obedience.
People acknowledge authority when they believe that those who are using this power have the
moral right to do so. Politics is also about conflict resolution.
In a democracy, the government receives its power from a mandate of its citizens. The mandate
gives the government power to govern by passing and enforcing laws.
Sometimes other people exercise illegitimate control, power and authority on others: Power is
illegitimate when it is not recognized and accepted by the majority of those who are governed.
Political development looks at how control, power and authority are acquired and exercised so
as -to benefit the majority of those who are governed.
INDICATORS OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT
Political awareness and citizen participation: In a politically developed society the citizens are
aware of political developments taking place in their society and thus actively participate in
them. Citizen participation may take many forms including voting in an election, debating issues
or attending civic or community meetings.
Political tolerance: Politically developed societies are politically tolerant. This means that people
who are not in power must be allowed to organize themselves and speak out regardless of their
different cultures: race, religions, ethnic groups and political parties. These may have viewpoints
different from the majority of the population or from those in power.
Ability to choose own leaders: In a society that is politically developed, the people to be
governed need to express their will by choosing or electing their own leaders. The elected official
should be chosen and peacefully removed in a free and fair manner. Intimidation, corruption and
threats to citizens during or before an election do not indicate political development or maturity.

Political institutions: These include political parties as well as the parliament. In a politically
developed society you do not only have the institutions but the institutions are actively involved
in promoting the welfare of all the people they represent. Frequent parliamentary , sessions are
also an indication of political development. They are an indication that the government is not just
doing things on its own; rather, it is consulting the electorate through their representatives in
parliament.
Transparency and accountability: In a politically advanced society elected as well as nominated
officials are held accountable to the people. They are required to make decisions and perform
their duties according to the will and wishes of the people and not just for themselves.
.
-8-
Control of the abuse of power: In politically developed countries efforts are not spared in trying
to prevent officials or other people from abusing their power. The most common form of abuse
of power is corruption.
Human rights: Human rights of citizens are respected and protected in politically developed
countries. Human rights include freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of
assembly.
The rule of law: In politically developed countries no one is above the law, not even the
president. This means that every one is required to obey the law and will be held accountable if
he or she violates it.
Multi-party system: A multiparty system of government is a good indicator of political
development. Traditionally one party system of government has resulted in dictatorship in many
African countries. Multiparty system means that you have more than one political party
participating in an election. This system of government allows for opposition to the party that
wins an election. The opposition helps to check the activities of the winning party, making sure
they are taken to task and abuses are checked.
EFFECTS OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT ON PEOPLE
Political development increases awareness of people in the political affairs affecting them. Being
informed is critical to effective participation. Talking to and raising questions with people who
are knowledgeable like members of parliament or civic leaders can properly inform citizens,
who can also obtain information from the media (radio, television or newspapers). Citizens'
awareness in political affairs helps to ensure that leaders are held accountable and are not
allowed to abuse their powers.
People know their rights and respect other peoples' rights. They are tolerant with one another
and they appreciate diversity in culture, race, religious beliefs, views as well as political parties.
They work together.
Discussing political developments freely
Political development leads to increased participation in development work. In politically
developed countries citizens work as partners with their government and participate in
development work. If people do not participate actively in the work of the government the
danger is that the government makes all decisions without their input. The more input from
citizens the more informed and better the decisions made.
Political development leads to increased participation in parliamentary and local government
elections. Elections help to give legitimate power to those who win to become leaders.
MAJOR POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN MAIAWI SINCE 1963
In February 1963 Malawi, known as Nyasaland then, attained self-governance and Kamuzu
Banda became the first Prime Minister. On 6 July 1964 Nyasaland attained independence and
changed its name to Malawi.
In 1971, all other political parties in Malawi were banned except for the Malawi Congress Party.
.
-9-
This turned Malawi into one party state. In the same year Kamuzu was made life president of
Malawi Congress Party.
On 8th March 1992, the Catholic Bishops in Malawi wrote and circulated a pastoral letter entitled

"Living Our Faith" which openly criticized the Kamuzu Banda government.
In June 1993 a referendum was held in Malawi to decide on whether to reintroduce multiparty
system of government or not. The people of Malawi voted for the re-introduction of multiparty
democracy.
Following the referendum, the constitution of Malawi was amended to allow for the formation of
other parties. Other political parties were thus formed. Some of them were Alliance For
Democracy (AFORD), United Democratic Front (UDF), and Malawi Democratic Party (MDP).
On 17th May 1994, multiparty parliamentary and presidential elections were held simultaneously
in Malawi.
Following the general election the president of the UDF was elected the presidential winner with
47.16 percent of the votes; Kamuzu Banda was second with 33.45 percent of the votes while
Chakufwa Chihana of AFORD was third with 18.90 percent of the votes. During the elections,
there were 177 constituencies being contested. UDF won 85 of the seats, MCP won 56 seats, and
AFORD won 36 seats.
In 1999, another multi-party election was held in Malawi and Bakili Muluzi was elected
president for a second term of office. he handed over power to his party successor, Bingu wa
Mutharika who won the presidential elections on 20th May, 2004.
TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT
What is Technological Development?
- Technological development is the application of knowledge or science to production that
helps to expand the potential productivity of resources.
- Technology can be seen as input in the production of goods and services and is thus a
source of total factor productivity.
INDICATORS OF TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT
Over the past century impressive advances in communication, transport and medicine etc have
changed the way people live and work. Indicators of technological development include: cell
phone, telephone sets, computers, radios, money cards, telephones etc.
FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT
1. RAISING AWARENESS
- A country's people and leaders must view the effective use of technological advances as
the key to successful and sustainable development.
- Leaders and the general public must be educated about and convinced of the importance of
technological innovations.
.
- 10 -
2. STRENGTHENING GLOBAL LINKAGES
 Developing countries need to get access to technology through global links
 Specifically this is through imports of capital goods and components, through direct
investment and strategic alliances as well as through foreign education and training
 It is important that foreign travel and other contacts with foreigners and foreign goods
and services be strengthened.
3. CREATING POLICY AND REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT CONDUCIVE TO
TECHNOLOGICAL UPGRADING
A policy and regulatory environment that promotes rapid diffusion, adoption, and efficient
use of new technologies is very important.
A free market economy would help in bringing about technological development. This
includes:
i. the promotion of competition
ii. removing restrictions on foreign technology imports
iii. encouraging greater participation in world trade
iv. facilitating foreign contacts through foreign conferences and trade fairs
Competition forces firms to lower costs improves quality and keep up with new products. It
thus helps to create a strong incentive to adopt more efficient new technology and
organization.

4. EDUCATION AND TRAINING
 Modern education institutions place a high priority on the development of problem
solution skills and on teaching of scientific knowledge and method.
 There is a particular emphasis on the teaching of information and communication
technology so that future adults will have the skills and knowledge to keep abreast of the
constant changes in the technology and will know how to use such technology to their
advantage.
5. DEVELOPING PHYSICAL AND LOCAL TECHNOLOGY SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE
 To help in the effective use and diffusion of technological information, it is necessary to
develop networks and institutions that can tap into information about technology and
markets tends both worldwide and locally.
 Access to computers at telecommunication hardware and software (including the
Internet) as well as transportation (roads and airport) a telecommunications is crucial.
 Some institutions include the universities through their research activities:
Some of the key institutions include
i. Technological information centres
ii. Standards, testing and quality control institutions e.g. Malawi Bureau of
standards
iii. Research and development institutions e.g. The Malawi Industrial Research and
Technology Development Centre (MIRTDC)
6. POLITICAL WILL
Government can play a role in funding technological development. It must be determined to find
resources for technological development. Innovation can help enormously in improving the lives
of the people e.g. use of solar power in areas where there is no electricity (can be used for food
processing - thus providing opportunities to generate income.
.
- 11 -
7. MATCHING SOLUTION TO LOCAL PROBLEMS
 The effective use of technology means matching technological development to the local needs
of a country.
 It should be appropriate to the local conditions to which its being applied
 The degree to which technology is appropriate varies from one country to another.
MILESTONE TO TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT
Some of the significant technological developments of the last few centuries include:
a. The airplane b. space flight
c. the bicycle d. credit cards
e. radio f. television
g. telephone h. computer.
IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT ON THE LIVES OF PEOPLE
POSITIVE IMPACT
a. Improvement in transport has revolutionized the way people move around. Travelling is
now faster and easier, cars, buses, trains and planes make it easier for people to access the
goods they need; to find employment and to reach educational institutions. They also allow
business people to market goods and find customers.
b. Improved communication through telephone, faxes and e-mail. People on opposite side of
the world to keep in touch and make daily communications easier for government, business
and individuals.
c. Televisions and radios bring information and entertainment to people in their own homes.
d. Domestic appliances make it easier for people to look after their homes, allowing more time
for paid work and leisure
e. Electronic commerce can help businesses expand advertising and selling. These goods and
services in the international market place in the internet
f. Computer technology has great potential for improving education. Special programmes can
help students in all kinds of studies. It is particularly helpful in distance education and for
adult education

g. Technology has brought great improvement in healthcare, in the form of more effective
drugs and equipment.
NEGATIVE IMPACT
a. Television and the Internet expose people to different cultures, particularly that of the
western world. Some elements of these cultures may have a bad effect on young people e.g.
encouraging violence and low moral standards.
b. A small number of companies have enormous power in the information industry. It is
extremely difficult for other companies to compete against them
c. Some aspects of the new technology raise ethical questions e.g. Biotechnological innovations
that change the nature of plants species to provide stronger crops
d. Many technologies have been used to develop new and more deadly weapons.
- Nuclear weapons were used to devastating effect at the end of the Second World War.
- Chemical weapons have also been developed which can kill or injure vast number of
people.
e. Some technologies damage the environment e.g. pollution from the burning fossil fuels (coal
and oil and car exhausts has become a worldwide problem.
f. Technologically advanced countries use a great deal of energy, some of it from nuclear
.
- 12 -
sources. While nuclear energy does not have a damaging effect on the environment, faults or
accident within nuclear power plants can lead to nuclear disasters and the spread of
radioactivity, which is harmful to all forms of life.
g. An industry, which introduces new technology, can contribute to unemployment.
TOPIC TWO
CULTURE AND CHANGE
Meaning of culture
Culture is complex. It includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, laws, customs and other
capabilities and habits acquired or observed by man as a member of society.
A society culture consists of whatever it is one has to know or believe in order to operate in a
manner acceptable to its members.
EASTERN CULTURE
Characteristics of Eastern Culture
1. Family Structure
- Characterised by extended family systems. Joint families are quite common.
- Gender and age plays a big role in specifying responsibilities.
2. Food: Herbs and spices are part of everyday cooking.
3. Hospitality and greetings:
- Stress the importance of honouring guests.
- The host tries to ensure that guests are comfortable.
- Food for guests is normally served in excessive quantities.
- Strangers are often welcome in the home and treated nicely as they are often seen as
visitors sent by God.
- Greeting a female with a kiss is not acceptable.
4. Marriage Practice
- Arranged marriages are common.
- People often behave conservatively. Public display of affection between spouses is not
usual.
5. Religion: The Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism are very common religions.
6. Dressing styles
- In the predominantly, Moslem societies, women dress conservatively.
- Most women dress in clothes that cover their faces and hair. They have to wear long
garments from shoulders to the feet.
- Men wear long sleeved one piece dress that covers the whole body.

THE IMPACT OF EASTERN CULTURE
1. Muslim Religion
In Malawi, Muslim, Swahili - Arabs brought Islam to the Yao people along the
.
- 13 -
lakeshore and the South of the country.
2. The development of Swahili language.
3. The style of building.
WESTERN CULTURE
1. Family Structure: The nuclear family and single parent family are common.
2. Food: - Rice, bread and pasta are common foods
- Meat and difficult types of vegetable are part of their diets.
3. Hospitality and greetings
- People from the western countries respect privacy very much. Strangers are often
cared with caution.
- Visitations are normally upon invitation or prior notification.
- If you are invited to dinner or lunch in a restaurant, it is customary that everyone pays
for themselves.
- Greetings with a kiss or handshake is common.
4. Marriage: It is common for people in love to publicly display their affectionate.
5. Major common religions: Common religion is Christianity.
6. Dress Style
- Men wear shirts and trousers or suits
- Women wear blouses and skirts, dresses, suits and sometimes trousers.
7. Languages
There are so many languages in western countries. These include English, French,
German and Dutch. English is widely spoken in many western countries and is a common
language e.g. communication through the world over.
IMPACT OF WESTERN AND EASTERN CULTURE ON MALAWI AND AFRICA
1. Changes in family structure
- The extended family system is traditionally the most common Africa and Eastern culture.
- The coming in of people from western countries has impacted on the African family
structure.
- Many people are now opting for a nuclear type of family. With the coming of
industrial development a lot of people are moving with their immediate families to
live in urban areas where they may be employed.
2. Coming of various forms of religions
- When people from western and eastern countries started coming to Africa, they
brought with them their religions.
- People from the West brought in the Christian religion. With them many Christian
churches came into Africa.
- Some of Christian churches common in Malawi and in the African countries include
the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, the Church of Scotland (or
Presbyterian church) the Seventh-day Adventist church, the Pentecostal churches and
.
- 14 -
many others.
- People from the East also brought into Africa many religions. These include: Islam,
Hinduism and Buddhism.
3. Dissolution of traditional religions
- Many ethnic groups in Africa have adopted religions brought to the continent by
people from western and eastern countries.
- Christianity and Islam are the most common religions in most African countries today.
- Traditionally many African religions centered on ancestral spirits.

- Traditional African religions are almost extinct in most African Societies.
- In Malawi and most other Southern African countries Christianity is the biggest
religion. The Muslim faith on the other hand is more common in North African
countries like Egypt, Sudan and Algeria.
4. Review of certain beliefs and practices
- Some African beliefs and practices had to be reviews with the coming in of people
from other countries.
- This review was mostly due to the fact that many Africans embraced religions brought
from the other cultures.
- Some of the beliefs and practices reviewed include:
 Polygamy
 The circumcision of boys during initiation ceremonies. This is particularly
because it can be dangerous to health.
 The removal of sexual organs of girls
 Women bearing many children
 Customary law
 Use of traditional herbal medicine to treat diseases
 The role of women in societies
 Arranged marriages
 Farming for economic well being.
 Today education is seen as important for development of an individual or society.
5. Copying of western music and dance
Western music such as Pop, Jazz, Country and Western is very popular with many
Africans who also revere western singer.
Musical instruments are increasingly being put to use by many African singers.
6. Copying of Western and Eastern ways of dressing
- With westernization men wear suits and trousers while women wear dresses or
blouses and skirts.
- The wearing of trousers by women is one of the major cultural changes in some
African countries, including Malawi.
- Eastern ways of dressing has also impacted on some African way of dressing.
Muslim women for example are supposed to cover their heads in public. It is
common to see men in West Africa wearing head gear and robes.
7. Copying of Western languages
- English has become a common language used for easy communication across ethnic
and geographical borders.
- The education system in most African countries uses western languages e.g. Malawi
.
- 15 -
and other countries like Zambia, Zimbabwe use English in classes and business
dealings.
- French, another western language is also commonly used in other African countries
such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Mauritius.
8. Copying of western and eastern ways of preparing food
- The effects of western culture are felt worldwide. Most towns have fast food
restaurants selling hamburgers of chicken and chips.
- A lot of Africans are now growing and consuming different types of spices. This is
due to eastern culture who prefer their food hot and spicy.
- A lot of recipe books come from western writers with western ways of preparing food.
PRESERVING OF CULTURE
- Cultural heritage consists of those aspects of the past that people preserve, cultivate, study
and pass on to the next generation.
- It includes both tangible and intangible aspects of culture.
- The tangible refers to what is felt, known and experienced. The intangible include such things

as paintings, other works of art and buildings.
Therefore: Cultural preservation is the preservation of cultural heritage as well as the
maintenance and sustenance of norms, beliefs, customs and practices of a society.
- The emphasis is on cultural continuity from the past, through the present and into the future.
THE IMPORTANCE OF PRESERVING CULTURE
1. It helps to give a sense of identity to people of a particular society e.g. our language,
beliefs, customs and music contribute to our pride in ourselves and in our community.
2. It promotes understanding of other people and respecting them.
- Understanding cultural groups prepares us to better listen to, speak with and celebrate
those who seem different.
3. It promotes cultural sustenance. This is more so with tangible cultural heritage such as
pieces of art and buildings. Tangible cultural heritage is sometimes in the form that decays
or deteriorates over time. Preservation helps
4. It allows the passing on of culture to other generations. These may include things like
initiation ceremonies, chains of commands within a family or village, proper modes of
dressing and addressing people and cultural skills such as basket weaving or mat
making.
5. It also promotes more effective use of cultural assets through increased access and public
understanding of their value to society.
STRATEGIES USED IN PRESERVING CULTURE
1. Using museums and cultural centers
- One common way of preserving culture is to collect objects and information about the
past and put them on display in a museum.
- Art galleries are used to exhibit pieces of arts.
- The national museums, libraries, universities and art galleries have helped in cultural
preservation through their work on research, restoration and preservation of cultural
change.
- Museums and art galleries help in provision of appropriate storage and display
environment.
.
- 16 -
2. Using cultural events
- There are many places and occasions where people can listen to traditional music, hear
poetry and participate in singing and dancing. These include national holidays,
weddings, funerals and parties.
- There are also drama groups that perform traditional dances and displays depicting
cultural life of various ethnic groups.
3. Using books/stories/ songs
- Story telling is the ancient way in which societies pass on their culture from generation to
generation.
- In many African countries including Malawi those stories are being written down so that
children can read them at school, and so that they are preserved for future generations.
- These stories contain important cultural values.
4. Keeping language alive
- Language is fundamental part of culture.
- Use of local language should be promoted since language is often the aspect of their
culture that people feel most strongly about.
5. Using the Curriculum
- One way of preserving culture is to make sure that students learn about the culture of
their communities at school.
- Malawian school children also study books about the culture of various ethnic groups in
Malawi as part of Malawi heritage e.g. Mbiri ya Alomwe, Chikala cha Ayao, Kukula ndi
mwambo.
- Such books promote the appreciation of cultural heritage.
- In addition, raising the level of general understanding encourage a broader awareness of

nature importance and challenges facing a country's cultural heritage.
6. Using art and craft
It is through arts and crafts that people are able to express their way of life, beliefs and
traditions.
7. Using policy and registration
- Policy and registration can help to control the amount of imported cultural products.
- Some nations have enacted requirements enacted requirements that broadcast outlets and
cinema exhibit a certain percentage of domestically produced programming which is in
line with the cultural traditions of a country.
- Copyright laws are also important in relation to the artifacts associated with a given
society.
CONSTRAINTS FACED IN PRESERVING CULTURE
Preserving of social values traditions and ideals has presented a real challenge to many
African countries in recent years. Some of the constraints to the preservation of culture
includes modernization, changes in ideologies between generations, resistance of new
generations, the media, need to change, as well as lack of resources.
Modernization: The need to integrate cultural activities and values in all spheres of life has been
very loudly pronounced. However the clash between modernization on one hand, and the
traditional cultural values, on the other, cannot be easily avoided. People's ways of living have
.
- 17 -
changed over time mostly
Through the UNESCO World Heritage Convention some sites in African have been declared World
heritage sites. These include the rock churches of Ethiopia, Ashante traditional buildings in Ghana
and the great Zimbabwe ruins. Under this convention international assistance can be
secured by governments to facilitate the protection of these sites.
Changes in ideologies: Ideologies refer to ideas or beliefs that are held by a particular person or
group of people. Even though the preservation of culture may be advocated, some people may not
be for the preservation of some cultural practices and beliefs because they are in conflict with their
present ideas and beliefs. For example some people may resist traditional religious ideologies
because they believe in modern Christian ideologies.
Resistance by new generations: Cultural preservation involves passing of beliefs or customs
from one generation to another. New generations often resist some cultural practices and beliefs
because they find them old fashioned and not in line with modern demands. Resistances by new
generations makes the preservation of culture a very difficult task.
The media: Cultural life is very much influenced by the mass media like the radio, television and
newspapers. Today's media environment enlarges choice, creates opportunities for diversity and
promotes the flow of information globally. The technological capability of modem media to beam
messages and images to virtually every corner of the globe poses concern to those interested in the
preservation of culture. Respect for standards of decency and morality is often difficult to
compromise. The media has brought into the Malawian and African cultural life new civilization
and technological standards that are easily accepted by the majority of the population.
Need for change: Some cultural practices can help promote or hinder rapid socio-economic
development. When cultural attitudes and institutions hamper socioeconomic development they
are to be eradicated.
Lack of resources: The preservation of culture requires resources. These resources refer both to
human resources and financial resoul,ces. Financial resources are needed to finance
performances, tours, broadcasting, publishing, distribution networks etc People who are ~Ve11
trained in conservation and preservation work are an assets in promoting the cultural heritage
of a nation. We need well-qualified people to work in museums. However lack of financial
and human resources makes the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage difficult.
CULTURAL PRACTICES WHICH HINDER DEVELOPMENT
1. Initiation ceremonies
- Many parents regard these ceremonies as so important that they remove their children

from school to take part in them.
- This can present problems because it may encourage you people to think that education
is not important.
- In addition, these ceremonies are also closely associated with he practice of early
marriage for girls.
- These early marriages usually bring a girl’s education to an end.
2. The ritual of fisi
.
- 18 -
- This idea entice girls to early marriage, again ending girls educational prospects.
- It also promotes the spreading of HIV/AIDS.
3. The belief in witchcraft
- This presents people from succeeding in life.
- Those who fear they have been bewitched could feel there is no point in getting involved
in actions which could help development.
CULTURAL PRACTICES WHICH ENCOURAGE DEVELOPMENT
1. Use of vernacular language
- On the radio and in official communication.
- This ensures that everyone can understand important messages and feel included in
what is going on in society.
2. Traditional proverbs, folk stories and dances.These have been used to teach people vital
information in the area of family planning.
3. Traditional Crafts e.g. tinsmithing and iron working have been revived in many Malawian
villages.
4. Traditional leaders
- Help to solve development problems e.g. taking an active part in helping to conserve
fish stocks.
- Traditional leaders fisheries management Association have been set up on the lakes
and rivers of Malawi.
- The chiefs and headmen are using their influence to persuade the fishermen to act
responsibly.
5. Traditional herbs
- Are being incorporated in health care.
- In many countries there is now a partnership between western medicine and
traditional healers.
CULTURE AND DEVELOPMENT
The fundamental link between culture and development presents opportunities for
practitioners of cultural heritage preservation and of economic and social development to
realize their shared objectives. Creativity is the source of human progress, and cultural diversity,
being a treasure of humankind, is an essential factor of development. Although there are some
cultural practices that hamper socioeconomic development culture can and does contribute to
development. Culture enhances unity, helps to promote tourism and can help in employment
creation.
Unity: Understanding and respecting cultures offers us the opportunity to promote peace and
justice for all groups. Unity help promotes confidence, which fosters development.
Tourism: Culture is a driving force of tourism. Visitors who look for cultural experiences tend to
stay longer and spend more money in an area so help to generate foreign exchange.
.
- 19 -
Employment creation: Trades like arts and crafts if promoted well can be a source of employment
for many people. Some people can be employed in hotel industries or as tour guides.
TOPIC THREE
GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF GENDER
The following is a brief summary of the UN approaches to Gender development worldwide.
1. Anti-poverty Approach (1960-1970)
2. Welfare Approach (1970-1980)
3. Women in Development Approach (1975-1985)
4. Gender And Development Approach (late 1980's)
The Anti-Poverty Approach (1960-1970): In the United Nations first development
decade (1960-1970) efforts concentrated on reducing poverty of poor countries. This
approach aimed at income generating activities that would help in creating increased
capital accumulation and increased per capita income. This approach however failed to
help reduce poverty especially of vulnerable groups in society like women and children,
the elderly, and the disabled.
The Welfare Approach (1970-1980): The approach was adopted in the second
development decade of the United Nations. It among other things focused on
redistribution of control over resources. Under this approach, special welfare
programmes were designed especially for vulnerable groups in society. In the case of
gender relations, the aim was to address the inequalities that existed, between men and
women. It was through the welfare approach that women-in-development approach
developed.
Women in Development Approach (1975-1985): This development approach aims at
increasing opportunities for women to participate in, contribute to and benefit from the
development of their societies and economies
The Women-in-Development approach however received a lot of criticisms mainly
because it:
1. focused exclusively on women in the development process
2. the approach assumed that women are passive recipients of development and not
active participants in the development process.
Gender and Development Approach (from late 1985): This approach was developed in the late
1980's and includes both men and women as agents of development. It is based on the fact that it is
only efforts that consider men and women as partners and not competitors in development that
can successfully bring about women's equality and empowerment.
.
- 20 -
A. GENDER ISSUES IN AFRICA
Gender refers to the physical and social condition of being male or female.
It looks at the individual self perception of being male or female in a specific society or culture, as
well as the expectations that people in that society or culture may have one someone in relation to
roles and responsibilities because they are male or female.
Gender determines how women, men, girls and boys relate with each other and among
themselves. It has implications on an individual's personality, condition (material well being) and
position (status) in society.
B. MEANING OF DEVELOPMENT IN RELATION TO GENDER
Gender development is the process that involves the removal of social-cultural constraints to
mobility, access to resources and opportunities and an emergency of more just society.
Thus males and females influence the direction and pace of change through their active
participation in decision making, through their contribution to the desired changes and though
sharing the benefits based on individual's contribution.
EXAMPLES OF GENDER ROLES
1. For the woman:
- Crying at a funeral
- Taking care of children at home
- Cooking for the family
- Taking care of sick people
2. For the man:
- Digging at a funeral

- Being a bread winner for his family
- Heading the household but not helping in domestic chores
C. LAWS, RULES AND REGULATIONS IN MALAWI THAT ARE GENDER BIASED
1. Legacy laws
The laws place a much greater emphasis on the rights of the extended family in cases
where a man dies without leaving a will.
In a matrilineal system, when a man dies his kin are entitled to a share of the estate.
In a patrilineal system, emphasis is on the brothers and uncles' rights to inherit their
father's property
2. Maternity leave
The government allows civil servants to take three months maternity paid leave.
Private sector employers are reluctant because they say would make their business suffer.
Hence pregnant women have to negotiate with their employers to be paid maternity
leave.
3. Suspension of pregnant girls
In the past, it was common in Malawi for pregnant teenage girls to be expelled
permanently from school.
4. Religious laws
In some religions it is not acceptable for women to take leading roles e.g. women cannot
become priests in the Roman Catholic Church.
.
- 21 -
5. Citizenship Act
A Malawian woman who marries a non-Malawian man has to renounce her Malawian
citizenship, unless she formally asks for permission to keep it. If she makes this request,
she is not allowed to take on her husband's citizenship.
The children of such a couple are not entitled to Malawian citizenship.
However, the same situation does not apply if a Malawian man marries a foreign woman.
He can retain his citizenship without problems. Steps are being taken to change this Act.
D. LAWS, RULES AND REGULATIONS THAT HAVE BEEN REVISED
Dress Act: This act made it possible for women to wear clothing appropriate for the tasks they are
doing.
The Wills and Inheritance Act: This is the most popular piece of legislation affecting women in all
African countries. The common problems of the wills and inheritance act in most African countries
relate to the failure of the act in many cases to protect the wife and children from rampaging
relatives of a dead man. It has been widely noted that in practice, as soon as a husband dies the
relatives of the man descend on his home and forcibly help themselves to any of his assets on the
pretext that they are his rightful heirs.
Citizenship laws: The Citizenship Act of Malawi, and many African countries, provides that upon
marrying a foreign man, the Malawian woman will lose her right to Malawian citizenship unless
she renounces the citizenship of her foreign husband by the first anniversary of the marriage. It
further provides that the children of a Malawian woman by a foreign husband cannot be Malawian
citizens by virtue of their mother being Malawian. A Malawian male marrying a foreign woman
faces no such problem. This piece of legislation is clearly discriminatory on the basis of sex.
Maternity Leave: Sometimes women face problems in getting maternity leave. Many times
women face discrimination in getting employment because some employers feel that a woman
would at one point or another be looking for maternity leave on top of the annual leave they get.
Bearing in mind that the number of children per mother in most African countries is significantly
higher than in western countries, the cost of martenity leave on an organization is also likely to be
high. Women may thus face discrimination based on this more especially if they are not
adequately protected by the law.
Suspension of Girls from schools when pregnant: In many African countries pregnancy in girls is
one of the major contributing factors to girls not continuing with their education. Girls are
suspended from school when pregnant and most of them do not. return to school after delivery

of a child.
Religious laws: Religion has a lot of influence on lives of many people. It is said to be one of the
most rigid systems perpetuating gender disparities because scriptures are often used out of context
to support partisan views.
Marriage laws: In many African countries men are by law allowed to have more than one wife.
This is mostly done even without the consent of the wife. It would be proper for the laws to be
revised so that it can only recognize one woman as a legitimate wife. If thisos not possible then a
.
- 22 -
law requiring the parties to state at the time of marriage whether or not the marriage they are
contracting is intended to be monogamous would be helpful. This will guard against unwilling
women being forced into polygamous marriages by the unilateral actions of their husbands years
into marriage.
Travel regulations: In some African countries a woman's right to acquire travel documents are
restricted by her marriage. In such countries a husband for example is supposed to consent if the
wife is to be given a passport. This in a sense limits the freedoms of a woman as some fail to
engage in business activities because they do not have the support of the husband.
Support of children born out of wedlock: It is included in the laws of many African countries that
mothers who have children out of wedlocks should receive financial support from the responsible
father for the child's upkeep. The problem however is that the amount of support required to be
provided is not regularly updated and is therefore often significantly less than one would need
for a child's up keep. For example in Malawi it was set at MK250 per month in 1999. This amount is
inadequate and needs to be reviewed regularly.
With the promotion of gender balance in many African countries, a lot of countries including
Malawi have taken significant steps to revise the laws and regulations. Some of the revised laws
and regulations are discussed below.
Anti discriminations laws: Many countries in Africa have got laws against discrimination on any
ground including sex. This law gives women an opportunity to do be engaged in any legal
activity that they w,)nt just as men. In Malawi for example in the past women were not allowed to
pursue certain courses at the University of Malawi such as engineering. These days a woman can
apply for any available course and stands the same chance of being selected as men.
Re-admission of girl mothers after delivery: In many African countries now girls are encouraged to
continue school even when they are pregnant up until delivery time. They are also encouraged to
come back to school after delivery of their child.
E. RIGHTS
The government of Malawi has agreed to a number of international conventions such as
Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). This
convention sets out internationally accepted standards for achieving equal rights for women.
This was done in 1987 and all reservations were lifted in 1990.
The government has also set up institutions to promote women's affairs. One of these is the
Ministry of Gender, Youth and Community Services. This Ministry encourages support for
income generating activities for women, credit schemes and training for women.
In 2000, the Malawi government launched a National Gender Policy. Development after a
consultation period, this identifies six areas of action. These are: education and training;
reproductive health; food and nutrition security; natural resources and environmental
management; governance and human rights; poverty eradication and economic
empowerment.
There are also many non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which deal with issues relevant
to women and children.
.
- 23 -
Among these NGOs are the Forum for African Women Educationists in Malawi (FAWEMA),
the National Association of Business Women in Malawi (NABW) and Women and Law in
Southern Africa (WLSA).

F. GENDER ISSUES IN AFRICA
1. Gender and Education
All children have the right to education. It is through education that boys and girls learn the skills
and knowledge which enables them to improve their lives and contribute to the development of
their countries.
However, in many African countries it is common for boys and girls to be treated differently
when it comes to education.
2. Gender and Marriage
 In many African countries, girls are brought up to be quiet and demure. They are advised by
older women on their roles as wives and mothers, and are expected to be obedient and
submissive.
 In the rural areas of Africa, marriages are mostly arranged according to customary or traditional law.
 In Patrilineal societies, the man's family is expected to pay lobola to the woman's family. This is
regarded as a thank - you to the parents of the bride for bringing her up.
 Lobola gives the husband rights over the woman. She is expected to work in his fields and to
bear his children.
 In Patrilineal societies, the children and not the widow are regarded as the main heirs.
In either of systems the widow finds herself isolated, and often without rights to her late
husband's property.
3. Gender and Employment
 Because girls receive less education than boys, more African women than men are illiterate. This
makes it more difficult for women to find paid work.
 Women are under-represented in government and business, particularly in senior positions.
 They are also heavily out numbered in Science and technology, engineering, medicine and
banking.
 Women are often paid less than men, and have little job security.
 Most women in rural areas of Africa work on the family farm. They grow food for the family,
prepare and cook food, fetch water, collect firewood and look after children. They work very
hard averaging 12 hours a day (men work on average 6 hours a day).
4.Gender and religion
 All religions regard the family as the cornerstone of society. They support the idea that women's
most important roles are as wives and mothers.
 Muslims believe that the sexual division of labour is natural and God-given, and encourage
wifely obedience.
 Hindus want their women to be faithful, dutiful and devoted.
 Christian beliefs about gender focus particularly on the letters of St. Paul, which supported the
idea of male domination.
 However, women do often play an important role in the worship in both African, Traditional
religion and in African Christian churches.
5.Gender and Rights
.
- 24 -
The constitutions of many countries give men and women equal rights. According to the Malawi
constitution (1995) women have the right to:
a. regulate their fertility (meaning that they choose how many children they have)
b. inherit property
c. be educated
d. have equal pay for equal work
e. have access to equal economic opportunities
f. be protected from all forms of abuse, cruelty, discrimination and exploitation.
However, most women are not aware of their rights. Customary law, religion and culture
combine to keep women in an inferior position to men.
Gender and Culture
6.
Attitudes to gender are deeply embedded in African cultures.

In some societies, including Malawi, both girls and boys go through initiation ceremonies.
These ceremonies play an important part in teaching young people about the customs of
their communities but, the emphasis in the initiation of girls is on teaching them how to be
wives, and mothers. Very often the initiation of girls is linked with their early marriage.
In the past many African societies were polygamous. This meant that the woman would
work in the man's field and help to make him wealthy that he could then afford new
wives.
Polygamy is generally now condemned by women and many men.




G. WAYS OF ACHIEVING GENDER BALANCE IN AFRICA
Enable more women to become members of parliament and take part in government.
Give boys and girls equal opportunities for primary education.
Change community attitudes toward the education of girls.
Hold civic education campaigns to inform people of women's rights.
Provide legal help for women when dealing with customary law.
 Ban initiation ceremonies
 Help women learn about better farming techniques
 Make sure that women can obtain loans for equipment for agriculture or other small
 businesses.
 Make sure that women participate in government programmes as men's equals.
 Change cultural attitudes towards female inheritance of property and the early marriages
 for girls.
 Make it possible for more girls to attend secondary schools.
Encourage the development of labour saving devices which would be useful for rural
women such as maize mills.
Ensure that there is a policy of equal pay for equal work.
Encourage the medial, especially newspapers and radio, to incorporate the positive
gender messages into programmes such as soap operas.






H. EFFECTS OF GENDER BIAS ON DEVELOPMENT
a. It is likely to slow down the development of a country, the community and the people in
general.
b. It results in unequal participation and contribution of women and girls to development
activities, as women will have unequal access to the power structures that control society
.
- 25 -
and determines development issues.
c. It promotes unequal access of women and girls to opportunities such as education,
employment and business opportunities. This likely results into a shortage of skilled
human resources.
d. It leads to unequal access to economic resources like credit. More women and men will not
be able to start small businesses and this would lead to high levels of unemployment.
TOPIC FOUR
CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT
Meaning of Civil Society
Civil society refers to all the non-government or state organs and institutions that participate, in a

relatively organized manner, towards the exercise of power by the state.
The objective of such organs and institutions is to get the participation of grassroots communities
in government decisions that affect the people's lives.
Such decisions mainly involve social, economic, technological or even cultural development as it
affects the rest of the people.
TYPES OF INSTITUTIONS OF CIVIL SOCIETY
TYPES OF INSTITUTIONS OF CIVIL SOCIETY
Civil society institutions may be classified into three maj groups: influential non-government
individuals, membership-based organisations and intermediate institutions or agencies.
Influential non-government individuals
These are influential individuals such as academics, church leaders or professionals whose
statements or observations are regarded as being representative of the civil society. Local church
leaders, university lecturers or economists when they speak on their own behalf in the private
sector fall in this category of civil society. World leaders such as South Africa's Nelson Mandela,
because they are no longer in government, may fall in this category of civil society.
Membership-based organisations
These are civil society organisations that operate on voluntary membership dealing with nonstock or non-profit
activities. Membership-based organisations are subdivided into two major
groups: one group involves professionals, academics and civic organisations, and the other
involves people's organisations that are grassroots groups in communities, work areas or other
sectors. The latter group distinguishes two subgroups: these are the government-run/initiated
people's organisations - organised either directly or indirectly by government agencies or
politicians, and autonomous people's organisations which are primary groups that may be of
marginalised communities and sectors.
Institutions or agencies
These are intermediate agencies that operate with full-time staff and provide a wide range of
services to people's organisations. It is important to distinguish four main types of agencies or
institutions based on the nature of services they provide and the directions to which their activities
.
- 26 -
are geared. These four subcategories are: development, justice, and advocacy non-governmental
organisations; traditional non-governmental organisations; funding agencies, and mutant nongovernmental
organisations (NGOs).
Development, justice and advocacy NGOs
These are more commonly called development NGOs and function primarily to service the above
autonomous people's organisations by articulating and undertaking concrete experiments to
foster an alternative social order that is just, participatory and sustainable. Although this type of
organisations depend on donor funding, they insist on autonomy and their activities reflect
political neutrality.
Traditional NGOs
These are charitable, welfare and relief organisations that perform valuable services for the poor
through orphanages, feeding programmes, rehabilitation, homes for the elderly, persecuted and
others. Although they interact with development, justice and advocacy NGOs, their primary
focus is on individuals and families that are unable to cope with poverty situations.
Community-Based Organisations (CBOs)
These are organization run by people in a particular geographical area. The strongest forms of
community based organizations are those which are focused on a particular interest or which
support the development of community.
Some examples are Community Development Committees, Village Health Committees, and
Parent-Teacher Associations.
Cooperatives are also a good example of this organization.
Funding agencies
These are foundations and grant-giving agencies which have no direct link to grassroots groups
but function largely to support, through loans and donations, the activities of various groups.

Mutant NGOs
These are special consultancy organisations which provide advice and direction on the use of
donor funds. These include government initiated firms, and private business corporations and
the various short-time organisations which usually masquerade as NGOs but only survive for a
short while on specific projects, hence, their mutant or ever changing nature.
The institutions of civil society are the organizations and associations formed by citizens.
National Organisation
There are a number of national organizations in Malawi which promote the rights of various
groups.
A few examples are:
1. The Public Affairs Committee (PAC)
2. The Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR)
3. The Civil Liberties Committee (CILIC)
4. The Council for Non-Governmental Organisations of Malawi (CONGOMA)
5. The Malawi Human Rights Resource Centre (MHRRC).
6. The Centre for Youths and Children Affairs.(CEYCA)
7. Women and Law in Southern Africa (WILSA)
8. The Consumer Association of Malawi (CAMA)
9. Passengers Welfare Organisation (PAWA)
.
- 27 -
THE ROLES OF THE INSTITUTIONS OF CIVIL SOCIETY
1. They provide education in such areas as health, human rights, environment, drug and
substance use and abuse, democracy and good governance and the electoral process.
2. They empower grassroots people through provision of economic opportunities,
selective targeting of development, e.g. focus on women or war veterans.
3. They may assist government in the enforcement of some of its own policies. Such
organizations include Human Rights Organisations which serve as watch dogs against human
rights abuses.
4. They monitor government activities in specific areas and provide reports that are aimed at
sensitizing people to the issues involved, or assisting government in the formation or
modification of its policies.
 This aspect of documentation may also include resource facilities where civil society may
access information related to specific areas. In Malawi, there are a number of legal
resource centres where such services are provided.
5. They work forward sensitizing people on their rights and freedoms in the democratization
process.
 This sensitization may focus on the electoral process, identification and treatment of cases
of human rights violations, interpretation of cases of national constitution and others.
6. There are other institutions whose main focus are issues that deal with social, economic,
technological and cultural development. Such institutions may provide expertise, financial
and technical resources in order to facilitate a particular aspect of development.
7. They act as an arbitrator. At times of disagreement, for example between political parties and
citizens, the institutions of civil society have an important role in trying to solve the problem
e.g. the Civil and Political Rights Committee has called on political leaders not to use
inflammatory language when carrying out voter education.
THE IMPORTANCE OF CITIZEN PARTICIPATION IN CIVIL SOCIETY
Civil Society can only carry out its role if people participate. If people are apathetic and
 see no point in taking part in civil society, democracy of a strong civil society.
Similarly, the institutions of civil society must work to achieve their aims and objectives.

Otherwise, the citizens will withdraw their support. Often a community can come
together to solve a problem. It may need help from an established organization, such as a
church or non-governmental organization. When the appropriate civil society institution
does not respond to such an initiative, the community becomes frustrated.

 Cooperation is important in development. When people come together to discuss ways of
solving their problems they learn to cooperate in new ways. When a project is started in
which the community is fully involved, the people feel motivated to help. When a project
is completed, the community feels a sense of ownership, which ensures that new facilities
will be well cared for.
Such community action promotes development as well as strengthening civil society.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN INSTITUTIONS OF CIVIL SOCIETY
The main way in which citizens can participate in the institutions of civil society is by joining in
the activities of the organizations and associations of their community.
.
- 28 -
Only a few can become leaders; most will play their part by being members that are actively
involved. It is this membership, this participation, which matters.
TOPIC FIVE
THE STATE AND THE GOVERNMENT
Meaning of the State
The state is the system which makes and enforces decisions for society. It includes the
government, the civil service, the army and the judicial system.
It is made up of the people who make decisions in a country, that is:
 Members of Parliament (MPs)
 Ministers
 Judges and Magistrates
 Civil Servants
 Police
 Army Officers
MEANING OF GOVERMENT
Government refers to the group of persons governing the state according to a given constitution.
A constitution is a legal document that describes how the country or state should be governed. It
describes the institutions of the government and state the rights and responsibilities of the
citizens.
FUNCTIONS AND DUTIES OF THE STATE
1. To actively promote the welfare and development of all people. It does this by progressively
adopting and implementing policies and legislation aimed at achieving a number of goals.
2. To obtain equality for women and men through full participation of women in all spheres of
society.
3. To achieve adequate nutrition for all in order to promote good health and self-sufficiency.
4. To provide adequate health care, commensurate with the health needs of all people in the
society and with international standards of health care.
5. To make sure that the environment is being managed responsibly.
Proper management of the environment helps to prevent the degradation of the
environment and provides a healthy living and working environment for all the people.

It also helps to accord full recognition to the rights of future generations by means of
environmental protection and sustainable development of natural resources.

6. To provide adequate resources to the education sector.
 It needs to devise programmes that would eliminate illiteracy; offer greater access to
higher learning and continuing education; and promote national goals such as unity and
he elimination of political, religious, racial and ethnic intolerance.
7. To make agreements and treaties with other nation-states and international organizations on
.
- 29 -
behalf of its people.

In this regard it sends to various countries or states representatives often referred to as
 ambassadors or high commissioners.
Examples of such agreements are:

i. Beijing Platform of Action - which is about gender balance
ii. Amnesty International - which promotes the respect of human rights by
governments of the world.
8. To promote the economic development of its people.
 The goal is to achieve a sensible balance between the creation and distribution of wealth
through the nurturing of a market economy and long-term investment in health,
education, economic and social development programmes and infrastructure.
9. It has a duty to introduce measures, which will guarantee accountability, transparency,
personal integrity and financial probity and which, by virtue of their effectiveness and
transparency, will strengthen confidence in public institutions.
 One of the ways is through instituting laws and regulations that promote good
governance.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PRESIDENT
The powers and functions of a president vary from one country to another. The president's role in
a country normally include:
1. To defend and uphold the constitution as the supreme law.
2. To appoint the cabinet of ministers
3. To convene meetings of the cabinet
4. To provide leadership in the interest of national unity in accordance with the constitution
and the laws of the Republic.
5. To sign death warrants
6. To pardon convicted offenders
7. To assent to bills passed by Parliament
8. To appoint Malawi's ambassadors to other country and to receive
ambassadors from other countries
9. To negotiate and sign international agreements
10. To give honours to brave and hard working people in a country e.g. in Malawi, the
Distinguished Service Medal. Awarded to people who have offered a distinguished
service to their country.
THE ROLE OF THE DEFENCE FORCES
The Defence force of a country includes the Army and may include other institutions like the
Navy and police.
The are required to operate at all times under the direction of civil authorities. This means they
can go into action only when ordered to do so by the President as Head of State.
The role of Defence forces include:
a. Upholding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic and guard against
threats to the safety of its citizens by force of arms.
b. Upholding and protecting the constitutional order in the republic and assist civil authorities
in the proper exercise of their functions under this constitution.
.
- 30 -
c. Providing technical expertise and resources to assist the civilian authorities in the
maintenance of essential services in time of emergency e.g. natural disasters.
d. Perform such other duties outside the territory of Malawi as may be required of them by
treaty entered into by Malawi in accordance with the prescription of international law.
SYSTEMS OF GOVERNMENT
1. THE UNITARY SYSTEM
A unitary system of government is when the central or national government is given superior
power over regional or local government. Examples include the Malawi, South Africa and
Kenyan governments.

2. THE FEDERAL SYSTEM
A federal system of government is when both central and regional governments are supreme
regarding certain powers. Federations have to:
a. House written constitution setting out which functions belong to which level of
government.
b. Have a special court to settle disputes between different levels of government.
c. There has to be a nation legislature which includes a second chamber in which all the
states are represented.
Examples include, the Unite States, India where each state has its governor, legislature of
judiciary.
 Federation is a good form of government where the country is very large, and/or
where it contains people from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds.
3. MONARCHY
In a monarchy a King or Queen inherits the right to rule, and is both head of state and leader of
the government e.g. Britain, Swaziland and Lesotho.
4. REPUBLIC
A republic is a form of government in which the supreme authority is the people and their
elected representatives. These elected representatives normally form a Parliament or National
Assembly. The head of state of a republic is a President e.g. Republic of Malawi.
THE ELECTORAL PROCESS IN MALAWI
Meaning of Elections
An election is a procedure for choosing officers or making bound decisions concerning policy by
the vote of those formally qualified to participate.
Elections are widely held in private organization such as companies, church groups or labour
unions.
Public institutions also hold elections to select offices and to choose representatives.
FUNCTIONS OF ELECTIONS
They are the formal procedure by which public officers are filled or specify policy

measures decided.
.
- 31 -
 Elections have a symbolic function. Citizens derive a sense of satisfaction from participating in
the selection of their governmental or political leaders.
TYPES OF ELECTIONS
1. GENERAL ELECTIONS
A general election is an election that is held throughout a country to make a final choice among
candidates for all public offices to be filled at that time. In Malawi, general elections are held
every 5 years.
2. PRIMARY ELECTIONS
This is a method by which a political party chooses its nominees for public office. Winners of
primary elections run against nominees of other parties in the general elections.
3. RUN-OFF ELECTIONS
These are elections held where no candidate wins with a clear majority in a general election.
4. BY-ELECTIONS
These are elections held where a public office is vacated by the incumbent through death,
retirement and resignation or because the incumbent has joined another political party.
5. LOCAL ELECTIONS
These are elections held to fill a wide variety of officers on the local level. In Malawi, these
elections are held to elect councillors for their respective wards. These are held every 5 years.
6. REFERENDUM
A referendum is an election in which an issue is submitted directly to a popular vote. Example
in 1993 Malawi held a referendum to decide whether the country should have a multiparty
system of government or continue with one party system that we had.

THE CONDUCT OF ELECTIONS IN MALAWI
Elections play a central role in all democracies. This is when the citizens are able to choose who
will represent them in both the National Assembly or Parliament and in local government. To
ensure that elections are free and fair, it is vital that they are organized and carried out
efficiently.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION
The Electoral Commission is an independent body with a judge as its chairperson. The
responsibilities of this body are set out in the constitution, and in the Parliamentary and
Presidential Elections Act of 1979.
THE DUTIES AND FUNCTION OF THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION
1. Deciding on the number of constituencies.
2. Drawing up the boundaries of the constituencies.
3. Organizing the registration of voters
.
- 32 -
4. Establish a procedure for the nomination of candidate
5. Producing and distributing voters' registers and ballot papers
6. Making sure there are ballot boxes in each polling station
7, Organizing officers to register voters, and to operate polling stations
8. Ensuring that elections are free and fair
9. Organizing political debates in which candidates from different political parties tell people
how they will help the constituency if elected
10, Taking measures to ensure that there is an appropriate level of security
11. Promoting the civic education of voters.
REGISTRATION OF VOTERS
Before an election can take place, citizens have to register as voters. To do this, they go to a
registration center in their constituency.
They need to be over the age of 18, to be citizens of Malawi and to have proof of their

identity.
Upon registering a person is issued a voter's registration certificate.
A period of at least 30 days has to be allowed for registration.



NOMINATION OF CANDIDATES
There is a special procedure for nominating candidate. Only candidates who complete this
process are included in the list of candidates for a constituency.
The agreement of at least 10 registered voters in a constituency is needed before a candidate

can be nominated. They all sign the nomination form. The candidate also signs it.
This form must indicate if the candidate is to be sponsored by a political party or he/she is
an independent candidate.


ESTABLISHING CONSTITUENCIES
The Electoral Commission on takes a number of factors into consideration when drawing up the
boundaries of constituencies. These include:
 The population density of an area
 The geographical features for an area
 Ease of communication, as well as the wishes of the people.
Each constituency is represented in Parliament by its own elected Member of Parliament.
SETTING UP POLLING STATIONS
Polling stations are established throughout the area where elections are to be held. They are
managed by the returning officer. He/she is responsible for ensuring that all voters are able to
cast their vote freely.

Voters need to come to the polling station in person.
The actual voting process is as follows:
At the end of a polling day, the returning officer for each polling station draws up a
summary to show the number of' people who have voted. This is done in the presence of
various observers. He:/she sends the ballot boxes and all the papers to the District
Commissioner. This office declares the results for the constituency.
THE VOTE AND VOTING PROCESS
 In an election voters use ballots to vote. A ballot is any object usually a sheet of paper, by
which a vote is cast. The Electoral Commission ensures that enough ballot papers and ballot
.
- 33 -
boxes are printed and distributed in readiness for the election.
A person is allowed to exercise his/her right to vote at a polling station located at the
registration center where he/she registered.
 The voting is by a secret ballot and any voter is required to cast his/her vote only once.
In Malawi, on the polling day voting begins at 6 o'clock in the morning and closes at 6 o'clock
in the evening.


TABULATING, REPORTING AND CERTIFYING RESULTS
In Malawi, what happens is that after the close of the polling station, the presiding officer in the
presence of other polling station officers and representatives of political parties if present,
open the ballot box and order the counting of votes to proceed.
Results from the different polling stations would then be added and that winner found.
The Electoral Commission of Malawi is the body that certifies the election results.
 Most of the times, elections are observed by members of the International
community as well as the locals.
 Observers help to add credibility to the electoral process as being transparent.
COMPLAINTS AND APPEALS
 Any complaint submitted in writing alleging any irregularity at any stage, if not satisfactorily
resolved at a lower level of authority, shall be examined and decided on by the commission and
where the irregularity is confirmed the commission shall take necessary action to correct the
irregularity and the effects there of.
An appeal shall lie to the high court against a decision of the commission confirming

or rejecting the existence of the irregularity.
THE ROLE OF THE VOTER
To be a voter in Malawi, a person needs to be:
- A citizen of Malawi (or to have lived in Malawi for seven [7] years)
- Over 18 years of age
- Mentally competent
Voters have a role to play in an election
o To register in the constituency in which they want to vote. They can only be registered to
vote in one constituency.
o To attend civic education activities that are going on in their areas just to make sure that they
know what will be expected of them on the Election Day.
o To make sure that they do not incite violence during an election.
o To vote at the polling station in the constituency they registered on the election day.
o To make a formal complaint to appropriate election staff if they observe any form of
misconduct in the electoral process.
.
- 34 -
TOPIC 6
HUMAN RIGHTS
IDENTIFYING SPECIAL GROUPS

 The UN's 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights makes provision, under Article 2, for the
protection of the rights of people considered as belonging to special groups: The article states
that:
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration,
without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion,
political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
MEANING OF SPECIAL GROUPS
Special groups of people are those people who share certain characteristics or traits,
biological, social and others.
These people are considered as belonging to special groups because the nature of their
characteristics demands special consideration or treatment, which they would be denied if they
were to be considered along with people who do not share such traits.
CHARACTERISTICS OF SPECIAL GROUPS
Some of the factors are as follows:
a. Biological make-up, such as children and women
b. Legal status such as citizens, such as prisoners and accused persons.
c. Social status such as people with disabilities and women
d. Geographical location, such as refugees.
e. Culture, such as people who belong to a particular ethnic or racial group.
f. Professional, such as migrant workers.
ABUSED RIGHTS OF SPECIAL GROUPS
1. WOMEN
Some of the abuses and perceptions (violations) that put women on unequal footing with men are
as follows:
Lack of Education
The right to education is a fundamental right for girls and boys in the UNDHR and the
Malawian Bill of Rights.
 As a result, where sources are scarce, societies usually prefer to educate the boy child or
man at the expense of a female counterpart.
There is also sometimes a fear for safety of girls if they have to travel far to school


Domestic Violence
Domestic violence often takes the form of beating by their husbands or other relatives
but also takes the form of sexual violence such as rape or incest.

Women are often reluctant to report such violence as they depend on their male
relations for security.

.
- 35 -
Forced Early Marriages
Some Societies especially in the rural areas may force women and young girls into
marriage in order to respect certain traditional provisions.

This may also include forced initiation practices such as genital mutilation or husband
inheritance.

Inability to acquire or retain property
In the past, it was difficult for Malawian women to inherit property. The recent Wills and
Inheritance Act has helped to improve this situation.
Women throughout the world frequently experience similar problems. They may not be

able to inherit land or other property from their parents, or from their deceased
husbands.
They may not be able to buy property, especially if they do not have a male guarantor.



Sexual harassment in the workplace and school
 Women entering the workplan face the hazard of sexual harassment. This sexual
harassment may take the form of:
 joking and teasing from male colleagues
 comments on the woman's physical characteristics
 invitation to have sexual relationships with male superiors in return for job
security, promotion or other perks.
Domestic workers or office workers experience this kind of sexual harassment. Two -
thirds of these came from their bosses who threaten them with dismissal if they refuse

his sexual advances.
Sexual harassment, assault and rape on the way to and from school, from teachers,

fellow students and community members and the attendant risks STDs including
HIV/AIDS and pregnancy. Can also have devastating effects on the schooling and lives
of girls in Africa.
2. CHILDREN
The United Nations Convenant on the Rights of the Child (CRC) define a child as any
person who is below the age of 18 years. The Malawi Constitution however recognizes
any person under the age of 16 years as being a child.
According to the CRC, Children belong to a special group because they are vulnerable
as well as dependent.
Children are vulnerable because of their young age and low level of physical,

emotional and social maturity - all of which may contribute to abuse by especially
adult people.
Children are said to be dependent because most of them are still depending on their


parents or legal guardians for their needs.
SOME OF THE FORMS OF CHILD ABUSE ARE AS FOLLOWS:
Sexual exploitation
Adult people may entice children with money and other economic opportunities in order
 to have willful sex with them. This is sexual exploitation.
Where the child is forced into sex without his/her consent, it is called rape or defilement.

.
- 36 -
The CRC therefore provides for rights that aim at protecting children from sexual

exploitation.
Child Labour
Because of their tender age and maturity, children may be vulnerable to enticements of
work that may eventually be hazardous to their health and well being without them

realizing it. This is called child labour.
Children work as casual farm labourers on estates producing tea, tobacco, maize,

coffee and other crops some of them sell foodstuffs, clothing and miscellaneous
items in town centres.
Any work that is given to a child must therefore take into consideration, the child's age

and maturity.
Victims of divorce/Orphanage

Children depend on parents for their everyday needs until such time that they are
capable.
This status makes them vulnerable to a lot of suffering when their parents are separated

either through divorce or death, leaving them as orphans and helpless.
There is therefore need for special rights to ensure that children are protected from
suffering that may arise as a result of losing their parents or guardians.


Decision - Making
In most societies, children are not allowed to participate in decisions that relate to their
well being because of their age and maturity.
Such kind of regard for children makes them vulnerable to and dependent on decisions

that reflect adult wishes and aspirations.
The above forms of abuse and biased perceptions on children, therefore, recognize
children as belonging to a special group needing special human rights.


3. PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
Almost in every society in the world, people with biological challenges such as deafness,
blindness, dumbness, physical deformity, mental retardation and others are subject to a lot of
biased treatment by other people.
Some of the biases are as follows:
Employment
Most employers are biased towards people without disability. This is because people
with disabilities may be seen as economically unproductive, risky and offering non

competitive skills.
Such kind of regard often puts people with disabilities at an economic disadvantage in

society, and exposes their economic status to dire poverty.
Education
People with disabilities may not be perceived as being as academically competent as
normal ones, therefore may be denied access to education that is available to normal

people.
But experience has shown that people with certain disabilities especially those not related

to mental capabilities can do as well as, if not better than normal people.
Marriage
.
- 37 -
People with physical disabilities may be perceived as being incapable of getting into and
managing of family because of their biological characteristics.

This kind of bias puts them at a disadvantage in society where freedom to choose who to
marry is a concern.

Biased priorities
There are a number of situations where the needs of people with disabilities are
considered after those of normal people. For example, during a war, evacuation of people
may consider people with disabilities last; similarly, during a natural disaster such as
famine or flooding, the priority may be on the survival of people without disabilities first.
4. REFUGEES (STATELESS PEOPLE)
A refugee is a person who has been forced to leave his/her country usually because of war,
famine or any other disaster.
Refugees may often be subjected to a lot of abuse or harassment by the other people in the host

country. Some of the cases that justify refugees as belonging to a special group needing special
human rights are as follows:
Forced labour
Refugees may be forced into marriages in order to gain acceptance into the host country.
This kind of treatment may involve either children or adult refugees.
Forced nationalities
Refugees may also be subjected to forced nationalities. This may be done in order to
conceal their original nationality for the gain of the host citizen involved.
Forced allegiances
In a war situation, refugees may be forced into political allegiances in order to be
protected from one kind of abuse to another.
Poor education and healthcare services
 Refugees are people first and therefore need adequate health services and good education just
like the host country's citizens.
In most cases, the residence status of refugees may be seen as temporary, and therefore not
justifying provision of full education and health services.
This is wrong since refugees too are entitled to the benefits of a normal citizen even in times of
war or forced settlement.
5. ACCUSED PERSONS/PRISONERS
 A person who is being tried in a court of law is only a suspect and is entitled to
treatment equal to that accorded to any person.
 Very often, most societies regard accused persons as prisoners and treat them with the
same contempt and ridicule usually reserved for prisoners.
 Prisoners are people first and therefore require all the entitlements that will enable them
live like normal people.
 Very often, prisoners are regarded as beasts that are incapable of reasoning or being
reformed. This kind of perception may expose them to the following forms of abuse:
Starvation
.
- 38 -
Some prison environments may not provide enough and nutritious food for
prisoners as a form of punishment. Some prisoners who are not strong may
eventually starve to death.
Poor health facilities
The health of a prisoner to most societies comes last after that of a free person. As a result,
many prison environments do not have adequate health facilities as a way of punishing
the prisoners.
Contact with relatives and legal services
Prisoners are sometimes barred from seeing their friends, relatives or lawyers. This is
because some prison environments may consider the prisoner as less human, not worthy
of legal representation, and therefore deserving condemnation and helplessness.
6. WORKERS
All over the world, workers are exposed to various forms of ill-treatments and
abuses which require special human rights to address.
Some of the abuses and forms of ill-treatment are as follows:
Low wages
Most workers are paid wages that are not consistent with their skills, experience,
qualifications or amount of work done.
In Malawi, the group that is Vulnerable to this kind of abuse is that employed in estates
and in domestic service.
Hazardous work environments
Many workplaces, especially those in the manufacturing industry, expose workers to
products and situations that are hazardous to their health.
Workers may need special human rights to make them aware of and protect them

from such exposure.
Lack of legal mechanisms to represent workers’ rights
Some employers prohibit workers from being involved in unionism fearing
arrogance, low productivity, and a higher wage bill.
Most political systems especially those involving military, political or royal

dictatorships discourage a demonstration of worker's rights through unionism,
Unfair dismissal
Most workers are subjected to dismissals without following standard procedures or
accompanying terminal benefits.
INTERNATIONAL LEGAL INSTRUMENTS FOR PROMOTING AND
PROTECTING SPECIAL HUMAN RIGHTS
.
- 39 -
Human rights are realized, documented and accepted through a process which involves some
legal instruments.
There are international instruments which bind and are observed by a specific number of nations
belonging to a particular region. The legal instruments include the following:
1. TREATY
A treaty is an international agreement between two or more governments e.g. the Southern
African Development Community (SADC) Treaty, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
(NATO).
2. CONVENTION
A convention is a treaty intended to bind and be observed by most countries. An example of a
convention is the UN`s Convection on the Rights of the child (CRC).
3. COVENANT
A covenant is a more specific treaty intended to bind, and to be observed by more states. An
example of a covenant is the UN's International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
4. PROTOCOL
This is an additional agreement intended to be part of a treaty that is already in force. An example
of a protocol is the Additional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights.
5. DECLARATION
This is a set of principles declared as desired standards for states and other parties but not
standards for states and other parties but not intended to be binding.
An example is the Declaration on the Rights of the Child
6. RECOMMENDATION
This is a set of standards suggested to be followed by states in order to realize agreed standards
or those in a convention.
An example of this is the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) Recommendation Number
119 on the termination of employment
VIOLATIONS OF THE RIGHTS OF SPECIAL GROUPS
There are various forms of human rights abuses or violation against special groups of people
committed at local and international levels. These are:
1. GENOCIDE
Genocide is the deliberate killing of a large group of people. It is the most terrible violation of
the right to life.
- Usually such wholesale acts of violence are directed against one ethnic group killing and
trying to terminate another ethnic group.
- An example of acts of genocide is the notorious Rwandan 1990 killing of about one million
Hutus by a Tutsi - dominated army. Another classical example is that of the Nazi
extermination of Jewish people in Germany during the Hitler regime.
.
- 40 -
2. CHILD LABOUR

Child labour is when a child has to work either full-time or part-time and misses out his/her
education.
- The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is working to end the worst abuses of child
labour namely:
o slave labour
o forced prostitution
o working with poisonous substances.
- The worst area for child labour is Asia, where it is estimated that over 44 million children
are employed.
- In Malawi, cases of child Labour have been reported where children are employed as domestic
servants; there are also cases of child employment especially on tea and tobacco estates.
3. DISCRIMINATION
- Discrimination of some kind occurs in every country everyday. Treating people unfairly
because of their colour was a frequent theme of the history of the 20th century.
- In United States of America and South Africa, there was discrimination of blacks in the form
of segregation, meaning for example there were separate schools for black and white
children.
- It was only after the civil rights campaigns that segregation was ended and black people
were accorded the same rights as whites.
4. FORCED PROSTITUTION
- All over the world including Africa and Malawi, there have been reported cases of women
and small children being forced into having sexual acts for money. This is known as forced
prostitution.
- The victims are usually enticed by promises of high economically - rewarding
employment in Western countries only to be forced into prostitution in the
country concerned.
- Both the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Convention on the Elimination of all
forms of Discrimination against women make various provisions against acts related to
prostitution.
- Article 34 of the CRC provides for all states to undertake to protect the child from all forms
of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse either through coercion, exploitative use through
prostitution or through pornographic material.
- Similarly, Article 16 of CEDAW provides for the right of the woman to choose a spouse and
to enter into marriage only with their free and full consent and includes "the right to choose
a family name, profession and an occupation".
5. SLAVERY
- A slave is a person who is legally owned by another person and works for the owner without
any payment. This arrangement is known as slavery.
- The United Nations slavery convention signed at Geneva on September 25, 1926 and entered
.
- 41 -
into force on March 9, 1927 emphasized the need for all states to "prevent and suppress slave
trade".
- In many cases, modern slavery takes the form of bonded labour. This happens when a person
takes out a loan and to pay off the loan they are forced to work long hours, seven days a
week, everyday of the year. They receive food and shelter but not payment.
- There are reports of trading in adult and child slaves in Sudan and in West Africa.
6. TORTURE OF PRISONERS
- Freedom from torture is a fundamental human right. Despite this, prisoners are tortured in
many countries around the world.
- The torture may take the form of beatings, electric shocks or other physical assaults. It may
also take the form of depriving the prisoner of sleep or of food.
- Amnesty International is an international organization that campaigns for human rights. It
finds that acts of torture are common in many countries.
- Examples include torture of prisoners in Egyptian Police stations and detention centres and

torture of prisoners in northern part of Afghanistan by the Taliban regime.
7. TERRORISM
- In some parts of the world, individuals or groups of people with a common cause resort to
certain acts of violence in order to press for, especially political demands.
- The use of violence such as bombing, hijacking, kidnapping, shooting etc in order to obtain
certain demands is known as terrorism.
- The use of violence on other people whether innocent or accused of certain perpetrations is a
violation of human rights provisions.
- There are almost daily reports of acts of terrorism in the Middle-East conflict through car
bombs, suicide bombs, shootings and kidnapping perpetrated both by the Israelis and
Palestinians as each tries to press for political demands.
8. FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION
This is a violation of the human rights of girls and women. Genital mutilation is often referred
to as female circumcision.
- There are various kinds of procedure but they all involve the partial or total removal of
external female genital organs. Female circumcision may be performed at any age but most
of the victims are adolescent girls.
- This practice has serious effect on the health of the females concerned. It affects their ability to
have children, and their mental health. It seriously damages the female sexual organs and
can harm the woman's health throughout her life.
TOPIC SEVEN
INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT AND THEIR RESOLUTION
Meaning of the term International Conflict
.
- 42 -
A conflict is usually a disagreement or difference over a view point between individuals or
groups of people.
It may come about because of ideological differences i.e. because one party of the conflict
holds a different view over the other or because of a misunderstanding over a certain issue.
Conflicts may arise between two individuals, groups of people, political parties, countries or
groups countries.
International conflicts are therefore those disagreements whether within a country or between
countries but which eventually seek the intervention of the international community.
CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL CONFLICTS
1. Political Differences
- The conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo is principally between reconciled
political factions within the country.
- The rebels are fighting for a multiparty democratic political system through elections
while the government is demanding the withdrawal of foreign troops from the DRC as
a condition towards holding multiparty elections.
- Another example, in former apartheid South Africa, the whites believed that the country
could best be managed by segregating the three main racial groups: whites, blacks and
other races.
- The blacks however, believed the best way for a country like South Africa to live in harmony
was to have a multiracial society where blacks, whites and other races lived together as
one unified society.
- This ideological difference led to a protracted armed conflict between the white South
African government and various anti-apartheid groups championed by Nelson Mandela.
2. Religious Differences
- Some conflict emerge as a result of religious differences.
- The major conflict based on religion is currently that is between Muslims and Christians
all over the world.
- In Malawi, there are on-going disagreements which could lead to a major conflict between
the Quadria and Soukoto Muslim sects over certain Muslim rites. This has led at-times

to members of one Sect crushing openly with that of another.
- The Middle East conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians is basically a religious
conflict where one group is claiming sovereignty over the holy city of Jerusalem
based on historical interpretations of the Bible and the Quran.
3. Ethnic Differences
- A conflict may arise because of ethnic difference. In this case, one ethnic group may
either try to impose its superiority over another, or may reject ethnic traditions
presented by another group. In especially Africa, where most societies are multi-ethnic
differences.
- An example of a conflict caused by ethnic difference is the Rwandan 1990 genocide where
the majority Tutsi and moderate Hutus were massacred by the minority Hutus..
4. Cultural Differences
The colonization of Africa by Western Europe was marked by a cultural conflict where the
Africans rejected the imposition of Western European cultural traditions on them. This
often lead to violent conflicts led by liberation movements.
.
- 43 -
5. Individual Lust for Power
In Africa, most military governments have come about more as a result of lust for power and
worth than ideological differences.
In such cases ideological differences have been created in order to justify such individual
drives for power.
EFFECTS OF INTERNATIONAL CONFLICT ON DEVELOPMENT
1. Loss of Life
In most recent conflicts, women, children and the old died due to bombs dropped on the other
and these may fall on populated areas rather than military targets.
2. Wastage of Resources
Fighting a modern war is very expensive. Weapons have to be bought, soldiers have to be
paid and fed.
- Countries in areas of conflict will spend a large proportion of their financial' resources on
guns, tanks and other war materials. There will be less money to spend on the social and
economic development of the country and thus the standard of living of the people is
likely to decline.
3. Refugees
- No one wants to live in an area which is being bombed or attacked, so people flee to
wherever they think it is safe - usually in neighbouring countries.
- Many refugees had to flee their home countries to escape violence and repression.
4. Disruption of Social and Economic Life
- It is very difficult to live a normal life in war-torn areas. People may be frightened to go to
work, or to go to the fields. Essential services such as water and power supplies may stop
altogether or become scarce.
- It is difficult for people in the towns to get food, because transport is also disrupted. Schools
close down. Hospitals and clinics may have to look after those who are injured because of
the difficulties of distribution, they may run short of medicines and other essential
equipment.
5. Destruction of Property
- In areas of conflict, property is likely to be destroyed. This property may be housing,
factories, shops, offices, farming land, crops of animals.
- It may take many years for people to restore this property.
6. Creation of a violent society
A protracted civil conflict may breed youths who have known of nothing other than violence
in their lives.
These may lack education and proper upbringing, and their adult life may degenerate into
unruly and ungovernable society.

7. Limitations of Human Rights
If a country is at war, it may pay less attention than usual to the right of assembly, freedom
of movement or freedom of expression.
.
- 44 -
CONFLICT RESOLUTION
This is when two conflicting parties have reconciled either through their own peaceful
negotiations or through intervention by a third party.
STRATEGIES FOR RESOLVING INTERNATIONAL CONFLICTS
The main strategy for resolving an international conflict is through peaceful negotiation, which
in turn uses the principles of contact and dialogue.
- It is important to note that a conflict can never be said to have been resolved successfully
where one party has succumbed to violent confrontation on.
- When an international conflict is at ideological level without any violence, it has the chance to
respond to discussions between the two conflicting parties without any external
intervention. In this case, there is need for the two parties to establish contact first before
engaging into negotiations.
CONTACT
Once contact has been established between the two conflicting parties, the next step is to engage
into the actual negotiations also known as dialogue.
- The negotiators are selected according to the nature of the conflict.
- For instance, if it involves a border dispute, then experts in international land disputes or
international law may be involved; if it involves the repatriation of a notorious criminal
from one country to another, the negotiation involve experts in international relations.
EXTERNAL MEDIATION
Sometimes in an international conflict negotiations between the two may not yield any solution.
In which case, there is need for an external intervention.
- This external intervention may be in several ways. It may be in form of a representative of
another country, usually a head of state; it may be a renowned international figure whose
capabilities both sides of the conflict trust and respect; it may also be an international organ
whether regional (e.g. SADC) or international body (e.g. UN).
INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS THAT ASSIST IN CONFLICT
RESOLUTION
1. The United Nations Organization
The main world body dealing with international conflict is the United Nations organization
commonly known as the UN. It has its headquarters in New York.
The United Nations is a family of over 30 organizations.
The part which focuses on conflict resolution is the Security Council. This has 15 members of
which five are permanent members: China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States. The
other 10 member countries change every two years.
This council discusses new conflicts and tries different strategies to bring the conflict to an end.
When these diplomatic efforts fail, the Security Council can impose sanctions on a country.
Sanctions are a punishment. . - It can also send peace keeping forces to an area of conflict to try
and keep the peace.
2. Regional Organs
a. The Southern Africa Development Community (SADC)
.
- 45 -
(SADC) is a grouping of Southern African countries which among many objectives, also
addresses conflicts that may affect the member countries in one way or another.
B. Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
In west Africa, there is the grouping of a number of countries called the Economic
Community of West African States which aims principally at addressing the economic
issues regarding the countries concerned.

ECOWAS has been instrumental in addressing the civil wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia
through either mediation or military intervention.
C. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
In Western Europe, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is a grouping of countries with
the aim of responding to military conflicts developing with the region.
D. The European Union (EU)
The European Union (EU) is a more recent all even passing organization which looks at
the economic issues related to Western Europe, as well as international aid to developing
countries.
The EU may intervene on a number of issues that threaten the economic stability of the
region
E. North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
In North America, NAFTA is a grouping of the United States of America, Canada and
Mexico aimed at addressing trade and commerce issues.
This organ may also be used to address mainly conflicts that emanate from in balance of
trade between the three countries.
INTERNATIONAL PEACE INITIATIVES
1. The Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations.
- In 1919, the year after the First World War ended, a peace conference was
held in Paris. Germany and other defeated countries were not allowed to sit at the
conference table.
- Instead the four victorious powers - Britain, France, Italy and the United States
dominated the conference. They agreed on the terms of the Treaty of Versailles,
which Germany had to sign.
- The terms imposed on Germany were harsh. It had to give up some of its territory and
get rid of its weapons, among other things.
- The peace conference also made arrangements for the setting up of the League of
Nations.
2. Setting up the United Nations
The United Nations was formed to replace the League of Nations.
The draft chapter was drawn up at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference of 1944. At the
conference in San Francisco in 1945, attended by delegates from 50 countries, the United
Nations was established.
In 1992, the UN Secretary General prepared a report, called 'Agenda for Peace', setting forth
.
- 46 -
the organization's objectives.
i. To seek to identify, at an earliest possible stage situations that could produce
conflict and to try through diplomacy to remove the sources of danger before
conflict begins.
ii. Where conflict erupts, to engage in peace making aimed at resolving the issue
that has led to conflict.
iii. Through peace keeping, to work to preserve peace, however fragile, where
fighting has been halted and to assist in implementing agreements achieved by
peacemakers.
The United Nations also uses the term "peace enforcement' which means the use of force
against one of the parties in a war to bring about the end of hostilities.
An example of peace enforcement, might be the NATO bombing of' Yugoslavia in 1999 to
bring an end to Yugoslavia attempts to ethnic cleansing, of opposition ethnic groups.
3. Peace Initiatives in the Middle East
The Middle East has been affected by many conflicts. But there have been important
peace initiatives too.
One in 1978 when the United States took the lead in trying to end the conflict. The leaders
of Israel and Egypt signed the Camp David Accord. This marked an important step

towards peace because in the treaty Egypt recognized Israel as a country for the first time.
A further important step was taken towards peace in the Middle East in 1993 when the
leaders of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) signed the 'Declaration
of Principles'. This recognized each other's right to exist. However, in more recent times,
this peace process has been broken down.
4. A Peace Initiative in the DRC
The war in the DRC broke out in 1998. In 1999, after some pressure from the UN, the
warring sides agreed to a ceasefire and signed the Lusaka Peace Accord, which aimed to
end the war permanently, However, after the treaty had been signed the ceasefire was
broken many times
HOW EFFECTIVE ARE PEACE INITIATIVES?
Most conflicts have more than one cause and are very complicated to resolve. Peace
organizations can only do this effectively if they have power to make all parties to the conflict to
what they say.
- In many of the most vicious conflicts taking place today, the UN has had limited success
in its diplomatic efforts to achieve peace, because it has to rely on promises made by
the warring parties, who seem to have little incentive to keep their word.
- And when the UN attempts to increase pressure on aggressive country by imposing
sanctions, it does not often have the desired effect. Although few peace initiatives are
completely successful, individuals and organizations will always place a high priority
on trying to bring about and maintain peace in international conflict, because the
effects of war are so devastating that it is worth almost any effort to prevent it.
TOPIC EIGHT
.
- 47 -
SOCIAL JUSTICE AND INJUSTICE
Social justice is when everyone in society is treated fairly and their rights are respected
particularly by institutions such as the government in the police and the law courts.
Social injustice can be said to occur when people are not treated fairly and then- rights are not
respected. Often in a society or community some people receive more favorable treatment than
others.
Some common forms of social injustice are:
1. Bribery and corruption.
2. Favoritism and nepotism (which may include unfair distribution of resources).
3. Preference for one ethnic group over another.
4. Preference for one gender over the other.
5. Discrimination against various groups of people, such as street children people with
disabilities or ex-prisoners.
6. Underpaying workers.
7. Oppression.
THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL INJUSTICE ON THE AND COMMUNITY
1. People who have been treated unfairly are bitter and resentful. They may lose confidence in
themselves and develop an Inferiority complex. They may feet there is no point in working
hard and obeying society's rules and instead may turn to crime.
2. Social injustice in the community has negative effects. If a group of people is treated unfairly
because they are of a different religion, then those will feel oppressed and bitter.
CAUSES OF SOCIAL INJUSTICE IN AFRICA
1. Poverty
Poverty is seen as the lack of basic necessities in life such as food, shelter and clothing. The world
is divided between the poor and the rich, poverty is therefore seen as a result of social injustice.
It could be because; some people control more resources than they need or that those who are
rich do not want to share with those who are poor.
2. Corruption

Corruption and the abuse of power are among the more serious causes of social injustice in
many African countries. Some of the worst cases of corruption in Africa have involved the
presidents or prime ministers of countries.
Senior civil servants often make sure they benefit personally from large contracts from
overseas suppliers. These contracts may be for the construction of large projects meant to aid
the development of the country.
3. Cultural and Social Practices
 Some cases of social injustice in Africa occur because of unwise or outdated cultural practices
that harm or discriminate against certain people. Examples include local cultural practices
such as the ritual of fisi and widow cleansing.
 Sometimes old people are discriminated against or even abused because they are
suspected of being witches or sorcerers. They may be tortured or even chased away
from their community, and forced to live in isolation.
.
- 48 -
EFFECTS OF SOCIAL INJUSTICE IN AFRICA
a. Poverty
b. Conflict
c. Lack of development
d. Crime
e. Oppression of minority groups
f. Violation of human rights
THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL JUSTICE
Social justice is very important for development. There can only be development in a country if
the following conditions relating to social justice are met:
1. The human rights of all are respected
2. Resources are allocated fairly
3. Citizens are treated fairly by the authorities and the legal system.
4. There are equal opportunities for all to participate in economic development.
5. Citizens can participate in making decisions.
6. There is peace and security.
ORGANISATIONS THAT DEAL WITH INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL JUSTICE
1. International Court of Justice
This world court meets at the Hague in Netherlands. It makes legal decisions where there are
disputes between countries.
2. International Police (lnterpol)
This is an international security organization which helps countries to deal with criminal suspects
that operate in more than one country.
3. Amnesty International
This is an independent human rights watchdog established in order to investigate and report
cases of human rights violations all over the world.
4. United Nations
Is an international organisation which aims at promoting and protecting the integrity of all
people in the world. The UN has a court in Hague in the Netherlands which tries
international cases of injustice.
TOPIC NINE
SOCIAL AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
COURTSHIP
Courtship is the process by which a girl and boy who have fallen in love get to know and
understand each other with the intention of marrying.
Different ways of Courting
.
- 49 -

a. Direct Approach
o Through writing a letter
o Talking directly to the girl/boy
o Exchanging small gifts
o Visiting each other's home
b. Through a friend
If a boy is frightened to approach a girl directly he asks a friend to do so. The friend then talks
to the girl. If the girl gives a positive response the pair of them may start courting.
c. Media advertisement
It has become popular recently for men and women to place advertisements in newspapers.
They state the qualities they want in a marriage partner and people of the opposite sex are
invited to write to them.
THE IMPORTANCE OF COURTSHIP
Courtship is important because it is when the young people get to know each other.
They can find out about the other's personality, values and beliefs.
They can also learn about the other's attitude to work, about his/her goals in life. It is important
that courting couples go through this process of discovery, because it is unwise to get married
without resolving any important differences between yourselves.
The period of courtship is also the time when the couple get to know each other's families.
TRE MEANING OF MARRIAGE
Marriage is the legal union between a man and woman living as husband and wife. They
promise to stay together for the rest of their lives.
REASONS FOR MARRIAGE
Among the most common reasons for marriage are:
a. To have children and bring them up
b. To share sexuality with one's wife or husband in an exclusive relationship
c. To enjoy lifelong friendship, companionship and emotional security
d. To make a commitment to the person you love.
CHOOSING A MARRIAGE PARTNER
There are some things you need to find out about your boy friend/girl friend. Here are some of
the important ones:
1. Character or Personality/Appearance
The person you marry should not only have a pleasant and good character but also one
that suits your own character so that you will get on well together. It is also important
that you should look after their appearance and should try to be clean and well
groomed. This shows that they have a positive attitude about themselves and care about
how they appear to others.
.
- 50 -
2. Religious Beliefs
Knowing a partner’s religious beliefs is of fundamental importance. In some cases,
marriage partners might be expected to adopt their partner's religion. You need to find
out if your prospective partner holds very strong religious views, how will they affect
your marriage? Are you prepared to be tolerant of his/her beliefs? Do you have
religious views of your own which may clash?
3. Educational Background
It is possible for a couple to be happy even if their educational backgrounds are very
different. However, young men and women with similar educational backgrounds are
likely to have more in common, and there is unlikely to be much conflicts about their
work, social or economic status.
4. Health Status
The period of courtship is useful for finding out whether your intended partner has
health problems. If he/she does have problems; you need to ask yourself some questions
such as:

o Is it a short-term or long-tern health problem'?
o Are there treatments available?
o Is it going to make it difficult for him/her to work?
o Am I prepared to look after someone who is often ill?
5. Skills and knowledge
In the rural areas, young men and women deciding on marriage partners will look for
particular skills. Some of these could be:
a. For men
 Building a house, storage barns and fences.
 Making and using agricultural tools and implements.
 Working hard for his family.
b. For women
 Knowing how to grow crops
 Preparing food
 Looking after chickens
 Running a household
WAYS OF PREPARING FOR MARRIAGE
There are a number of factors that need to be taken into consideration before partners can get into
marriage. Some of them are as follows:
l. Abstinence from premarital sex
Courtship relationship does not necessarily involve sexual activities.
Pre-marital sex may lead to the female partner to get pregnant. It may also lead to
contraction of sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS which may lead to death.
2. Long Courtship period
.
- 51 -
This helps them to prepare adequately for the marriage.
3. Building a home
Married partners need to have a home where they will make various decisions concerning
the type of life they want to lead and number of children they want to have.
4. HIV/AIDS testing
Knowing their HIV status will help them to make decisions as whether to proceed with
the marriage arrangements or to look for another marriage partner.
5. Ensuring a sound financial base
Modern life depends almost entirely on money. Marriage partners should therefore verify
the sources of their income before they get into marriage. In other words, it is not
advisable for partners to get into marriage when none of them is employed or runs any
business that could bring some money.
WAYS OF GETTING INTO MARRIAGE
There are five main ways in which people enter into or celebrate a marriage.
1. Traditional or Customary marriage
 When a man has identified a woman as a potential marriage partner, he informs his
uncle or aunt who in turn form a delegation to go and officially propose to the woman
through her parents.
 When the two have agreed on the proposal, they arrange for a day when they could
celebrate the marriage.
 On the day of the marriage ceremony, the woman's parents present her to the
prospective husband through a celebration which may involve dancing and feasting.
 After this ceremony, the two spouses may live together as husband and wife.
2. Christian marriage
This is a type of marriage that is celebrated under Christian law by a priest in a church.
Although this is the case, according to Malawian traditional marriage customs, marriages
are entered into by the traditional ceremony and the religious institutions only confirm
what has already been accepted by the traditional system. This means that every religious

celebration of marriage demands the initial celebration through the traditional system
first.
3. Muslim Ceremony
In this ceremony, the bridegroom has to sign a contract with the bride's father or
guardian before two Muslim witnesses. The ceremony usually takes place in a mosque.
The imam will usually read from the Quaran and talk about the importance of marriage,
and the couple will exchange rings. Then a wedding feast follows.
4. Civil Marriage
This is conducted by the Registrar of marriages and demands witnessing by parents
from both spouses.
5. Elopement and Co-habitation
.
- 52 -
Elopement is an arrangement where a man and a woman arrange secretly to get
married.
Co-habitation is an arrangement where a man and a woman live together in a house,
sometimes they go ahead to have children, but are not officially married.
FACTORS WHICH HELP TO PRESERVE MARRIAGE
Honesty
Discuss problems openly without hiding anything e.g. if one of the partners already has a child,
it is important to explain to the other about it and the nature of the relationship that was
responsible for the child.
Free choice of marriage partner
Marriage involves essentially a love relationship between two people. It is therefore important
for the two to understand each other before and not when they get into marriage. This kind of
understanding can only be achieved if the two are allowed to contact each other before a
marriage arrangement.
Fidelity
One of the legally accepted reasons for a marriage to break under any law is when one of the
partners commits adultery or a sexual relationship with another person outside the marriage. It is
therefore important for marriage partners to be faithful and remain loyal to each other by
practicing fidelity.
Forgiving and forgetting
All human beings are not born perfect.
Disagreements are possible during a marriage even when adequate preparations have been
→ made. These disagreements may involve financial expenses, the use of family planning
→ methods, suspicions over secret lovers, parental opinions over the direction of the marriage or
the keeping extended family dependants.
Where there is a conflict or disagreement, the two partners should sit down, discuss it openly,
→
and where one is guilty or an of an offence, an apology should be given and the offended
should extend some forgiveness.
Most marriages break up because the two conflicting spouses do not want to give in to each
→
other.
Perseverance
Because marriages must live until separation by death, it is clear that there is need for a lot of
perseverance. There are trying moments during marriage where a break up may be imminent,
but if one perseveres, one may discover that the problem was not worth the value of the marriage
in the first place.
A lot of marriages break up because the partners think they cannot take any more problems in the
family.
Mutual Care
Partners need to care for each other in all aspects of their marriage life. The care may involve
looking, after the household, looking after children and also looking after each other when one

of them is sick.
.
- 53 -
Communication
One of the underlying factors in marriage problems is lack of communication.
 Communication breakdown may happen because either one of the spouses tries to mislead
the other or one of them is not responding to dialogue or because one of them is not frank
enough.
 Communication problems may also arise when one of the spouses uses language that is
considered unacceptable by the other.
IMPORTANCE OF MARRIAGE
1. Procreation
Marriage constitutes a union where children are born legally and thereby ensuring the
continued existence or procreation of the human race.
2. Child development and protection
Marriages ensure a safe haven for the growth and development of children. It is
believed that children who are raised in marriage families especially with both parents
around develop better socially than those that are raised otherwise.
3. Partnership
Marriage may also be considered as offering the answer to partnership problems that
every person may have. This is to say that human nature requires partnership such as
the kind offered by marriage.
RESPONSIBLE PARENTHOOD
A parent is a person who is either the father or mother of another person.
A biological parent is the one who is responsible for the conception and birth of another
→
person either as a father or mother.
→
A foster parent is one who adopts a child born to another person, and looks after him/her as
his/her own.
→
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF A PARENT DURING PREGNANCY
a. During pregnancy, the female parent is supposed to eat nutritious food which needs to be
provided with assistance from the male parent. This nutritious food ensures that the child is
born is health.
b. Both partners are supposed to ensure that they are faithful to each other by not involving
themselves in affairs outside their relationship.
c. Both partners should ensure that they maintain good relationship that is free from quarrels
and emotional pressures.
A good emotional balance for the female parent ensures that she is healthy and that the unborn
child also grows healthy.
d. Both the mother and father must support the pregnancy by ensuring that the woman looks
clean and healthy and attends ante-natal visits to monitor the growth and development of
the child.
.
- 54 -
DURING CHILDHOOD
a. Both parents must ensure that they provide it with food, clothes and a good place to live.
b. They should also ensure that the child continues to attend under five clinic to monitor its
growth and development.
c. When the child has reached a school-going age, both parents must ensure that the child
goes to school and that the child has enough materials to enable him/her learn adequately
at school.
d. It is the responsibility of both parents to encourage the child to go to school and stay there
until he/she is properly qualified and starts leading an independent life.
e. They should also advise children about social problems such as the dangers of engaging in

pre-marital sex and getting into early unplanned marriages.
TOPIC TEN
POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT
I POPULATION CHANGE
Characteristics of population change
The total population of any society or country can change either through increasing or
decreasing.
The total population of the world has been increasing over the years. This is because many
individual countries of the world have been experiencing an increase in their total

population.
There are however many other countries that have experienced a decline in their total

population figures.
FACTORS THAT LEAD TO POPULATION CHANGE
1. BIRTH RATES
Birth rate refers to the number of live births in one year for every 1,000 people. High birth rates
have the potential of changing the total population of an area by increasing it.
In 2000, the birth rate in Malawi was estimated at 36.49 per thousand. This number is in turn
affected by fertility rate.
→
Fertility rate is the average number of children each woman has.
There are four main factors affecting the fertility rate in Malawi. These are:
→
→
i. The use of modern methods of contraception is low.
ii. Most females in Malawi start having children when they are under 18.
iii. The period between births may be less than two years, often less than three years.
iv. Cultural expectations in Malawi are for large families.
2. DEATH RATE
Death rate refers to the number of deaths in one year per thousand of a population.
 Higher death rate has the effects of reducing the total population of a country
 This mortality rate is affected by a number of factors:
.
- 55 -
a. Infant Mortality
It is the 0 - 5 age group that is often at the highest risk of disease and death.
b. Maternal Mortality
When they are pregnant or give birth, women are also at risk of death. This is
particularly the case where:
i. The women are very young (less than 18)
ii. They are older (over 35)
iii. They have had several children
iv. They have had complications in previous pregnancies or have other
medical problems.
c. Life expectancy
The life expectancy of Malawi is falling because of deaths caused by HIV/AIDS.
The 2000 statistics revealed that the expectancy was 40 for men and 45 for women. This
is among the lowest figures in Africa.
3. EPIDEMICS
The outbreak of epidemic diseases has the impact of reducing the population of' community or
country at a faster than usual pace.
 This is because epidemics kill a lot of people within a short period of time.
The HIV/AIDS epidemic for example, has contributed very much to reducing the

levels of population growth in many African countries.

4. NATURAL DISASTERS
Natural disasters such as floods, volcanic eruptions. and earthquakes etc have the impact of
killing many people at the same time and making people’s habitants unlivable.
They have thus the effect of reducing the population of a place as many people die and many
others who survive may it difficult to live.
5. UNEMPLOYMENT
Unemployment is one of the important factors that often lead to population change.
People are often attracted to areas where they are likely to get employment such as urban and
semi - urban areas.
High levels of unemployment may thus force people to leave the place of normal residence.

This will can result in decrease of the total population in those areas with high
unemployment levels while areas with high employment levels are likely to experience
increase in population.


6. WARS
 War causes people to flee from their areas often to other countries as refugees. Thus countries
involved in war tend to experience a reduction in their population levels as people flee.
 War has also the effect of increasing the population of those areas or countries where refugees
go and seek refugee.
 Migration is the movement of people from one area to settle in another. Migration can occur
within national or international boundaries and it affects the total population of an area.
 The movement of people across international borders is referred to as either emigration or
immigration.
 Emigration has the effect of reducing the population of a country while immigration has the
.
- 56 -
impact of increasing the population of a country.
THE EFFECTS OF POPULATION GROWTH
Rapid population growth has many effects on individual families, countries and regions as well
as in the physical environment. Especially in poor countries, it can lead to increased poverty and
social upheaval. Some effects of population growth are:
1. Pressure on individual households
High fertility rates and short intervals between births have immediate effects on the individual
household concerned.
o The mother's health is at greater risk when she has had a high number of pregnancies.
o Also the more children there are, the more the pressure on land resources, food supplies,
housing and on water supplies and sanitation. Households with more children are therefore
more likely to experience poverty and a lack of food security. There is also a higher
likelihood of low attendance at school and poor health.
2. Pressure on Land
According to the 1998 census, 86% of Malawians live in the rural areas. Most of these people are
dependent on farming the land for survival.
Population growth increases the demand for land. Since about 40% of the country is unsuitable
for cultivation, it is the remaining land which is under pressure. This pressure is more serious in
some parts of the country than others.
3. Implications for food supplies
 Malawi's main food crop is maize. The Human Resource Development Unit (HRDU) of the
Malawi Ministry of Health estimated that each adult needs about 270 kgs of maize a year for
adequate nutrition.
 However, if fertility rates remain high, the population would increase and would also require
maize supplies to be increased as well.
 Food production would increase if agricultural productivity was greatly improved, with a
higher use of fertiliser, new varieties of seeds, and technological advances.

Otherwise, valuable foreign exchange would have to be spent importing food supplies.
4. Pressure oil Social Services
a. Education
With the launch of the free Primary Education system in 1994/95, primary school
enrolments in Malawi increased substantially to 3,2 million. Assuming the
continuation of high fertility rates the HRDU estimates that there could be 5.2 million
children in primary schools by the year 2022. Schools need buildings, equipment and
books, teachers. In 1992, there were 27, 600 to 85, 800 teachers if there were 5.2 million
children in school. The challenges involved in training such high numbers are massive.
b. Health Care
An increasing population requires more health professionals.
 Ideally, there should be far more if the health need of the people is to be met.
 Again resources will be extremely stretched to find the recruitment and
training in health professionals for the future.
.
- 57 -
5. Increasing Urbanisation
 With increasing pressure on the land and the consequent risks of poverty, more people
are already moving to the towns.
 In I998 it was calculated that 14% of the total population live in town of Blantyre,
Lilongwe, Zomba and Mzuzu. This migration to town is likely to accelerate with a
high population growth.
 This rapid rate of urbanisation will greatly increase the demand for housing, basic
services such as water and sanitation and employment.
 Any rise in the unemployed population whether in rural or urban areas, has inevitable
impact on crime figures.
 It also leads to a rise in the number of squatters in urban centres and the growth of
shanty towns.
6. Pressure of the Environmental
An increasing population puts pressure on the country’s natural resources such as its
supplies of wood, its land, fish stocks and wild life.
As the population grows, it exerts great demand on resources to such an extent that the
resources be limited to cater for all the people. Resources will end up being used up in
unsustainable manner.
THE IMPACT OF POPULATION GROWTH ON DEVELOPMENT
Population growth has serious effects on developments.
1. Population growth leads to the lowering of quality of services such as education and
health.
High population growth means more children enrolling in schools which do not have
enough resources in terms of classrooms, teachers and teaching aids.
It also means more people needing health care, safe water and sanitation yet these services
are in limited supply. The quality of such services is thus likely to be lowered due to
pressure that the large population will exert on them.
2. High levels of poverty associated with population growth results in high incidences of
morbidity (ill health) and mortality both of which have negative impact on development.
 People who are sick cannot contribute effectively to the development of their areas.
Sick people also require other people to look after them.
 The guardians as well cannot contribute effectively to development activities as much
as they ought since a lot of time is spent on caring for the sick.
3. Environmental degradation is a common problem that comes about due to high levels of
population growth.
 Human beings produce a lot of waste materials through their consumption activities
and this contributes to pollution of the environment.
 Pollution causes ill health and thus impacts negatively on development.

4. Peace and security become difficult to achieve in the face of high population growth. Loss
of security acts as hindrance to developments as people do not feel free to go about doing
their business and investors shun away from areas with high incidence of crime.
.
- 58 -
CONTROLLING POPULATION GROWTH
Population control refers to attempts to reduce the size of the population by any natural or manmade factors.
WAYS OF CONTROLLING POPULATION GROWTH
NATURAL METHODS
1. Disease
 There are a large number of diseases that can cause premature death. These include
tuberculosis (TB), cancer. HIV/AIDS, heart disease, strokes and malaria.
 In addition outbreaks of diseases such as cholera kills many people; mainly in the
developing world.
2. Infant Mortality
 A high proportion of premature deaths are those of infants before they reach their first
birthday.
 Diseases which affect babies and young children particularly are measles, diphtheria and
whooping cough. Diarrhea is also a common cause of death among babies.
 Some babies also die of malnutrition due to poor eating habits as a result of poverty.
3. Natural Disasters
Some parts of the world suffer from natural disasters such as:
i. Earth quakes, volcanic eruptions, avalanches and mudflows.
• These can cause serious loss of life.
 Many natural disasters come about because of the weather e.g. droughts and floods.
 Tornadoes and hurricanes cause many deaths and do a lot of damage in certain parts of
the world.
ii. Drought
 Drought is common in areas where rainfall is unreliable.
Drought conditions mean that the crops wither and die be fore harvest.

Once the food from the previous harvest has been eaten, people begin to starve.
 In Africa droughts are common in the Sahara countries, the countries in the Horn of
 Africa e.g. Ethiopia and the countries in Southern Africa.
iii. Floods and mudflows
Some countries frequently experience serious flooding. These floods cause loss of life
and wide spread homelessness.
In 1991, Malawi experienced a flush flood and a rock avalanche down mass
mountain on the north-east edge of the Phalombe plain.

Some parts of the world that receive heavy rain fall are prone to mudflows, where
heavy rain loosens soil and forces it to slide down hill, burying home and people
with it.
The worst mudslide happened in Venezuela, South America in December 1999.



iii. Earthquakes and Volcanoes
 Some parts of the world, such as Southern Asia, Western Asia and Japan, are prone
.
- 59 -
to earthquakes. The worst earthquakes happened in Turkey in August 1999, when
17,000 people died and in Gujarat, in India in January 2001 which left between 20,000
and 30,000 dead.
 The death tolls and damage from volcanoes are not as extreme as in earthquakes,

because they do not affect such a wide area, but nonetheless volcanoes can cause
massive loss of life.
• A famous volcano known as Krakatau in Indonesia erupted in 1883.
MAN - MADE WAYS OF POPULATION CONTROL
i. Wars
Wars are responsible for the death of millions of people every year. Wars are not
natural as they result from human conflict.
ii. Family Planning
Family planning refers to the conscious effort of couples to regulate the
number and spacing births through artificial and natural methods of
contraception.

Family planning connotes conception control to avoid pregnancy and abortion,
but also includes efforts of couples to induce pregnancy.
Family planning is the most advocated way of controlling population growth.

•
IMPORTANCE OF CONTROLLING POPULATION GROWTH
1. Population growth need to be controlled to reduces overcrowding in many places.
Overcrowding brings about many problems, including making it easy for infectious
diseases to spread very rapidly.
2. Controlling population growth is also important in order to avoid environmental
degradation.
 More people demand more environmental resources and generate a lot of waste. The
waste ends up polluting the same environment that people live in.
 It ensures the sustainability of the worlds' vast resources.
3. It also ensures the availability of resources.
 A large proportion of the populations are supported through subsistence agriculture.
As populations grow, competition for fertile land and the use of limited resources
increases.
 Meeting the increasing demand for food and other social and economic services is
most times impossible, creating the need for controlling population growth.
4. It is also likely to help in reducing unemployment levels. T his is also likely to help in
reducing unemployment levels. This is also likely to result in less people looking for jobs.
With population control the rate of job creation in an economy way may also be
possible as to keep up with the numbers of job seekers.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
It refers to the principles and practices that help to keep the environment safe and in good
conditions. It encourages principles and practices that do not destroy the environment but
keeps and maintains it in a sustainable way.
.
- 60 -
WAYS TO MAINTAIN ENVORONMENT
 Planting new trees
 Avoiding grazing animals on hilly areas
 Avoiding cultivating along river banks
 Planting trees along river banks
 Proper disposal of waste material
 Practicing appropriate fishing practices e.g. using recommended catching material.
IMPORTANCE OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
Environmental conservation is important in the following ways:
1. Preservation of species
Environmental conservation helps the preservation of both plant and animal species by

making sure that their habitant is not destroyed.
2. Avoiding Degradation
Land and soil degradation is averted when people practice environmental conservation practices.
3. Maintaining Diversity
Since environmental conservation practices help to ensure that the plant and animal habitat
is not destroyed. It also helps to make sure that diversity in animal and plant life is
maintained.
4. Improving Productivity
Environmental conservation ensures that nutrients in the soil are maintained by checking soil
erosion and over use of land. It can thus help in improving the productivity of land.
POPULATION POLICY AND PROGRAMMES IN MALAWI
FACTORS AFFECTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE POPULATION POLICY
The introduction of this population policy was prompted by an awareness of the negative that
high population growth were having on the country's development and on the 'rd of living of
people.
The main factors thus affecting the development of the policy were as follows:
i. The growing pressure on land resources and social services
ii. Environmental degradation and soil erosion
iii. The unsustainable use of the country's forest resources
iv. The demands placed on already over-stretched social services
v. Lack of employment opportunities
vi. Increasing poverty
vii. High fertility rate
viii. Rapid population growth
ix. High dependency burden
.
- 61 -
ELEMENTS OF THE POPULATION POLICY
Goal of Malawi's population policy is to improve the standard of living and quality of life of
Malawi people. The policy's central feature is to ensure that the country's population growth is
keep within manageable and sustainable bounds, while still maintaining the right of ea individual
and couple to decide for themselves the number of children they wish to bear.
The National Population Policy also has some principal sectoral objectives in relation to five main
elements.
1. Demographic and family planning
a. To achieve a lower population growth rate which is compatible with the attainment of the
country's social and economic objectives.
b. To lower fertility, and infant, child and maternal mortality.
c. To reduce adolescent marriages and unwanted teenage pregnancies.
d. To slow down the high rate of urbanisation.
2. Information, Education and Communication
a. To enhance programmes which increase awareness of the population problem and
facilitate free access to information about contraception and benefits of small family sizes.
b. To improve access, quality, efficiency and vocational relevance of primary school and
informal education systems.
c. To systematically integrate population education in the formal school system and other
institutions of learning.
3. Gender and development
a. To improve the status of women and youth in all spheres of development.
b. To ensure food security and adequate nutrition for mothers and children.
4. Research and environment
a. To improve the collection, analysis and dissemination of population data, disaggregated
by gender.

b. To promote environmental education among various population groups.
5. Employment
a. To improve entrepreneurial, managerial and other relevant skills for the country's labour
force for self-employment.
b. To increase productive employment and more equitable distribution of resources.
PRACTICES WHICH AFFECT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE POPl1LATION POLICY
1. Cultural and social attitudes
 One obstacle to the implementation of the population policy takes the form of cultural practices,
such as chokolo (inheriting wives or husbands) hlazi (where the parent of a man's wife give him
the wife's younger sister as a gift) and fisi (cleansing rituals for newly initiated girls).
- Initiation ceremonies are also associated with practices that discourage girls from continuing
their education, encouraging their early marriage and encourage unprotected sex.
- Changing these practices and the attitudes which encourage them are fundamental to the
success of the policy.
.
- 62 -
2. Polygamy
This practice is most likely to work against the objectives of the population policy. Polygamy
makes it easy for sexually transmitted diseases to spread fast. If one member of the family is
infected with HIV/AIDS or any other sexually transmitted diseases the chances are high that the
other members will get the disease and all may die of the same disease.
3. Religious beliefs
Some religions prohibit its members from using certain contraceptive methods making it difficult
for some people to practice effective child spacing.
Issues of gender balance also touch on many religious beliefs. Some religious beliefs are
patriarchal often putting women as second class citizens.
This often works against the objectives of gender equality and development.
4. Initiation ceremonies
 Initiation ceremonies per se are no bad. The problem often comes about because of some
practices associated with initiation ceremonies.
 Practices such as fisi are likely to negatively impact on the success of the population policy as
they put girls at risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases.
 The practice can also lead to unwanted pregnancies
5. Moral decay
Moral decay in most communities, as evidenced by such practices as prostitution and drug abuse,
works very much against the population policy.
Prostitution is the biggest contributor of the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases.
Drugs contribute heavily to mental illnesses among boys and girls.
ERADICA'TING
PRACTICES AFFECTING POPULATION POLICY
IMPLEMENTATION
Eradication practices that affect the implementation of' the population policy cannot be done
overnight.
1. Effective eradication of such practices requires public awareness campaigns that aim at
sensitizing the members of the public on the negative effects of such practices.
2. Empowerment of women can also significantly help in eradication of some of the
practices. This is because a woman who is empowered knows her rights and is therefore
able to say no to things she does not approve of woman who is empowered is also able to
support herself and is likely to find practices such as chokolo to be unnecessary.
3. Use of legislation is very crucial for effective eradication of some practices e.g. use of fish
and domestic violence.
STRATEGIES FOR IMPLEMENTING THE POPULATION POLICY
1. Information, Education and Communication (IEC)
o The achievement of the objectives under IEC depended on the development of clear,
unambiguous and locally sensitive messages tailored to specific audiences.

o The messages developed were then to be disseminated through person-to-person as well
as person to group communication.
o Equally important in the use of drama, dances, posters and the mass media, especially the
.
- 63 -
radio. The messages were to help increase awareness at the national and household levels
about the relationships between population changes, available natural resources, as well
as essential services and family well being.
2. Research and training
The strategy was to undertake operational research in areas that were considered necessary for
sound implementation of the policy. This included research that would help to identify the social,
cultural and physiological factors affecting fertility, morbidity and mortality levels, trends and
differentials; to study the social, economic, cultural and demographic impact of rural urban -
migration on both sending and receiving areas; and to explore constraints on the generation of the
employment opportunities in both the rural and urban sectors.
3. Population and environment
The environment consists of living and non-living things. Living things include as vegetation,
animals, and human beings. Non-living things on the other hand include such things as land, air,
water, minerals and buildings.
HUMAN PRACTICES THAT DESTROY LIVING AND NON-LIVING
THINGS
1. Pollution
Land, air and water are the major components of the environment that are vulnerable to
pollution.

Human practices such as disposal of domestic waste into rivers or streams, construction
of pit latrines near rivers or wells, using the bush as latrine, smoking in public places and

practices of catching fish by poisoning with herbs all contribute to pollution of the
environment.
2. Careless cutting down of trees
Trees are a source of fuel wood, charcoal, timber and poles for both domestic and
industrial use.

Careless cutting down of trees involves cutting trees in unsustainable manner. The rate at
which trees are cut is far greater than the rate at which they are replaced.

3. Poaching
Poaching is the illegal hunting of wild animals. Poachers kill wild animals because they want the
meat for food, concoctions for medicinal use or other by products from such animals such as
ivory from elephants.
4. Over fishing
Fish are a source of food and income for many people.
Due to high demand for fish, many fishermen continue to kill fish even during breeding
season thereby giving fish no chance to breed.

Sometimes fishermen use herbs/plants to poison and kill fish. This method kills both
young and old fish and can easily lead to extinction of many fish species.

5. Overstocking and overgrazing
.
- 64 -
Overstocking is the keeping of more domestic animals than a piece of land can sustainably hold.
With increasing population, the availability of grazing land has decreased. This has resulted in
too many animals grazing on a small area continuously, leading to over grazing.
CONSEQUENCES OF DESTROYING THE ENVIRONMENT
Climate change will cause unpredictable weather, with more climate extremes.
 The effect will be longer periods of extremely hot or extremely cold temperatures, droughts,
unexpectedly heavy falls of rain, and more natural disasters caused by floods, storms and
landslides.
 Global warming is causing the warming of the icy regions in the Arctic and Antarctica. The
melting of ice is making the sea level rise, some low lying countries can expect more
frequents floods. Some of' these which are islands, may disappear altogether.
 The heavy use of energy particularly in the western world is rapidly using the non-renewable
energy resources of the world, such as fossil fuels (coal and oil).
 As the world population increases, water will become such a precious resource that wars will
be fought over it.
 The loss of trees will not only contribute to climate change, but will also increase the areas of
soil erosion and desertification. It will also contribute to the siltation of rivers and other
important water sources.
 The loss of soil fertility will make it more difficult for people to feed themselves, leading to
poverty, ill health and starvation.
 Many species of flora and fauna will become extinct, some of which could have contributed to
national development as well as people's social-economic empowerment.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION
Environmental conservation refers to the principles and practices that help to keep the
environment safe and in good condition.
It encourages principles and practices that do not destroy the environment but keeps and
maintains it in a sustainable way.
There are many ways in which the environment can be conserved. These include:
i. Planting new trees to replace those that have been cut down.
ii. Culling excess animals
iii. Avoiding grazing animals on hilly areas.
iv. Avoiding cultivating along river banks
v. Planting trees along river banks
vi. Proper disposal of waste materials
vii. Practicing appropriate fishing practices such as using ended catching materials.

TOPIC 1: DEVELOPMENT
Development refers to a s us tained elevation of an entire s ociety and s ocial s ys tem towards a
better or more humane life.
Objectives
1. It helps to increas e the availability of bas ic life s us taining goods e.g. food, s helter, health
and protection.
2. It helps to improve quality of life.
3. It rais es the levels of living by providing higher income, more jobs , better education and
greater help to human values .
4. It helps to expand the range of economic and s ocial s ervices available to people and
countries by ending external dependence.
As pects of development
1. Political
2. S ocial
3. Economic
4. Technological
Political development
It refers to changing and improving the way a country is governed.
Indicators
1. Political awarenes s and citizen participation which mean people are informed about
political developments in their country and hence participate actively through voting in
elections , debates and attending civic meetings .
2. Political tolerance which means people in power s hould allow others to s ay their views
and allow views from racial, religious and political groups .
3. Ability to choos e own leaders peacefully in an election.
4. Effective political ins titutions by promoting the welfare of people, holding parliamentary
s es s ions frequently and cons ulting the electorate through members of parliament.
5. Trans parency and accountability where people s hould be aware of what is happening and
decis ions made as well as reas ons for making decis ions .
6. Control of abus e of power or authority for pers onal gain by s tructuring methods that limit
powers of different arms of the government.
7. Res pect for and protection of human rights of citizens .
8. The rule of law s hould be res pected by everyone regardles s of their s tatus .
9. Multiparty s ys tem of government to allow oppos ition from other parties that check
activities of the ruling party.
Pos itive effects of political development
1. Increas ed awarenes s of people in political affairs .
‘A journey of a Thous and miles begins with a s ingle s tep.’ Get original copy 0 996 564 395/ 0881 399 843Page 3
2. People know their rights and res pect other people’s rights .
3. People are tolerant of one another.
4. Increas ed participation in local development work
5. Increas ed participation in parliamentary and local government elections .
Major political developments in Malawi s ince 1963
1. February, 1963- Nyas aland attained s elf governance and Kamuzu Banda became the firs t
Prime Minis ter.

2. 6th J uly, 1964- Nyas aland attained independence and changed its name to Malawi.
3. In 1971- all other parties were banned except MCP and Kamuzu Banda was made life
pres ident of Malawi Congres s Party.
4. 8th March, 1992- Catholic bis hops circulated a pas toral letter called ‘Living our Faith’ which
criticized Kamuzu’s government.
5. 6th April, 1992- Chakufwa Chihana openly challenged Kamuzu Banda and the one party
rule and advocated for multiparty.
6. J une, 1993- a referendum was held on the reintroduction of multiparty s ys tem. The
majority voted for multiparty s ys tem agains t one party rule.
7. 17th May, 1994- multiparty general elections were held and Bakili Muluzi became the s tate
pres ident.
8. 1999- Bakili Muluzi was re-elected as the s tate pres ident.
9. 2004- Bingu wa Mutharika was elected the s tate pres ident of Malawi under the UDF ticket.
10. 2009- Bingu wa Mutharika was re-elected under DPP.
S ocial development
It means the general well being of people within a s ocial s ys tem.
Indicators
1. Infras tructure s uch as roads , s chools and markets .
2. Infant mortality rate which is the number of babies who die before they are one year old of
every 1000 babies born.
3. Life expectancy which is the average number of years a pers on can expect to live. It does
not mean that every one lives to this age, that is others will live longer and s ome will die
before this age.
4. Adult literacy levels which is the percentage of adults (people above 15 years ) who can
read and write.
5. S chool enrolments which is the percentage of people attending s chool.
Local s ocial development initiatives
Thes e are projects initiated by the community s uch as cons truction of clinics and roads .
Pos itive impact
1. People are equipped with leaders hip s kills .
2. People are equipped with negotiation s kills .
3. Les s pres s ure on exis ting s ocial s ervices .
4. Improved s tandards of living.
5. Cooperation of the people in the area or build a s trong civil s ociety.
6. Build confidence and a s ens e of empowerment.
Economic development
It refers to expanding the country’s wealth or economy.
Indicators
1. Educational indicators e.g. high adult literacy rate, high s chool enrolment, low s chool drop
out rate (percentage of people who drop out of s chool before completing a particular
cycle like primary or s econdary).
2. Health indicators e.g. percentage of people with acces s to s afe water and s anitation
(protected pit latrines and flus h toilets ), low infant mortality rate, low maternal mortality
rate (number of women who die during pregnancy or child birth expres s ed per 100,000
live births ) and life expectancy.
3. Low crime rate

4. Infras tructure e.g. pres ence of s chools , hos pitals , financial ins titutions and roads .
5. Gros s Domes tic Product (GDP) and Gros s National Product (GNP) – GDP means the value
of total output produced by factors of production in a country regardles s of nationality or
who owns the factors . GNP means the total domes tic and foreign output by res idents of a
country. Therefore, if there is growth in GDP and GNP, economy is als o growing.
6. GNP per capita which is GNP divided by total population. If a country does not produce a
lot, the income per pers on will be low. Where the population is big, the total product of a
country has to be divided among a lot of people s o GNP per capita will be low.
7. An unemployment level that is if a country has economic policies that promote creation of
employment opportunity, it helps in alleviation of poverty.
Factors that contribute to economic development
1. Market liberalization is the removal of barriers to trade e.g. trade policies . This brings
more people and companies that contribute to economic progres s .
2. Privatization is the proces s of changing the activity from the public s ector to the private
s ector. This encourages private owners hip of productive res ources hence ordinary people
own wealth through s hares in private companies .
3. Indus trialization means expans ion of the country’s capacity for producing s econdary
goods and s ervices . This creates more employment opportunities for people.
4. Import s ubs titution is when the government attempts to replace imports with domes tically
produced goods and s ervices . This boos ts indus trialization.
5. Urbanization is the growth of towns in economy and demography (population) brought
about by indus trialization. This is becaus e many people are needed to work in expanding
indus tries .
6. Taxation levels that are low attract more companies and individuals to inves t in a country.
In addition tax revenue from private individuals and corporations is us ed to finance the
government ins titutions hence improving the economy.
7. Peace and s tability attracts many inves tors s ince they are as s ured of s ecurity.
8. Availability of both financial and non-financial res ources helps in funding projects as well
as as s is ting in development.
9. Management of res ources s hould be good to achieve s us tainable development.
10. Free trade which is removing barriers to free flow of goods by reducing import and export
duties s o that people have a free choice of goods they want to purchas e.
Technological development
It refers to s cience to production or us e of s cientific knowledge to make things e.g. machines
and medicine.
Indicators
1. Telephone
2. Computer
3. Radio
4. Televis ion
5. Cell phone
6. Money card
7. Aero planes
8. Cars
Factors that contribute to technological development
1. Free market economy which is increas ing liberalization of trade es pecially in

communications technology. More bus ines s is done on the internet.
2. Developing phys ical and local technology s upport infras tructure that is es tablis hing
ins titutions and companies that work on new technologies .
3. Education and training refers to the provis ion of s cientific knowledge and methods by
various educational ins titutions .
4. Political will means the government allowing various indus tries to do bus ines s and
introducing new ideas .
5. Reduction of import and export taxes .
6. Rais ing awarenes s to the public about the importance of technological development.
Countries that are technologically advanced
U.S .A., J apan, Great Britain, Germany, France, Aus tralia, Canada, S outh Africa, Republic of China
and India.
Miles tones in technological development in the 20 th Century
1. 1901- Firs t radio s ignal was s ent acros s 1700 miles acros s ocean us ing radio waves . It
was s ent by Mors e code (a s ys tem of dots and das hes which s tood for letters )
2. 1903 – Henry Ford brothers had to fly in an aero plane for the firs t time.
3. 1913 – Henry Ford us ing an as s embly line produced cheap motor cars .
4. 1920 – A radio s tation in U.S .A. called KDKA broadcas t the firs t radio programme us ing
Marconi’s previous work.
5. 1920s – Companies s tarted producing home appliances us ing Henry Ford’s methods e.g.
vacuum cleaners , fridges and was hing machines .
6. 1926 – Firs t televis ion programme was broadcas t by Britis h Broadcas ting Corporation
(BBC) in UK. The main inventor was J ohn Logie Baird.
7. 1945 – The world’s firs t computer was us ed at the Univers ity of Penns ylvania in the U.S .A
which was very big and had 6000 manual s witches .
8. 1945 – Firs t atomic bomb was manufactured in U.S .A. and dropped in Hiros hima, J apan.
A cheap and tiny trans is tor was invented to be us ed in radios and later in computers . This
reduced the s ize of computers .
9. 1969 – Apollo as tronauts landed on the moon us ing rocket developed in U.S .A.
10. Mid 1970s – Micro proces s ors (s mall and cheap integrated circuits to be us ed in
thous ands of products ) were invented. This made the pers onal computer revolution
pos s ible.
11. 1981 – Americans s tarted s pace s huttle with a s eries of s atellites and s pacecraft were
propelled into s pace by rockets . They were us ed to carry out res earch and improve
s ys tems of s atellite communication.
12. 1992 – Invention of the internet by the American military. This s ys tem of computer
networks became known as World Wide Web (www).
Pos itive impact of technological development
1. Improvement in trans port which make people travel eas ier, acces s goods , find
employment, reach educational ins titutions and s ell goods and s ervices .
2. Improved communications through telephones , fax and e-mail.
3. Acces s to entertainment and information through radio and televis ion.
4. Les s ened work pres s ure at home due to domes tic appliances like cookers .
5. Expans ion of bus ines s through advertis ement and s elling goods on the internet.
6. Reduced dependency on manual labour and mas s literacy.
7. Improvement in education s ince people can acces s and learn different is s ues by us ing

computer technology.
8. Improvements in health care in form of more effective equipment and drugs .
9. Increas ed agricultural activities and environmental management e.g. the introduction of
hybrid varieties .
Negative impact of technological development
1. Moral decay like violence and pros titution due to people’s expos ure es pecially the youth
to televis ion and internet.
2. Unemployment due to new technology for example the us e of robots or traffic lights .
3. Death of people due to the invention of nuclear and chemical weapons .
4. Pollution caus ed by burnt fos s il fuels , s moke from car exhaus ts and other materials .
5. Companies that do not us e information technology can not compete with thos e that us e
information technology.
6. S ome new technological developments rais e ethical ques tions s uch as the innovations
(new ideas ) that change the nature of plants .
Developing nations
The World Bank clas s ifies the countries of the world into three main groups bas ed on GNP per
capita which is us ually s tated in US currency (US Dollars ).The countries fall in the following
groups :
1. High income, high development countries – countries of North America and Europe,
Aus tralia, Newzealand, J apan, the Republic of Korea, S ingapore and Kuwait in As ia,
Barbados , Trinidad and Bahamas in the Caribbean, Uruguay and Venezuela in S outh
America.
2. Medium income, medium development countries – countries in the Caribbean, S outh
America, the Pacific region, the Middle Eas t and As ia, S outh Africa and Bots wana.
3. Low income, low development countries – As ian and Pacific nations and a number of
African countries including Malawi.
It s hould be noted that there is always movement on this ladder of development which means
levels of development are always changing.
Characteris tics of developing nations
1. Low levels of income – many people have inadequate income for their s urvival s o this
caus es high infant mortality rate and maternal mortality rate, illiteracy and malnutrition
and dis eas es .
2. Poor health s ince very few people has acces s to good health facilities , s anitation and s afe
water. This is becaus e thes e s ocial s ervices are s carce.
3. Low educational levels and s tandards becaus e of lack of teaching and learning res ources
like textbooks , qualified teachers and good quality clas s rooms . This caus es high
percentage of s chool drop outs and many illiterate people.
4. Low levels of productivity due to lack of capital and advanced technology, poor health
s tatus and nutrition in childhood which affect mental and phys ical growth on an individual.
5. High population growth rates due to cultural expectations which encourage people to
have many children. For example, 4.1 children while developed countries have an average
of 1.9. Furthermore, high population growth is due to low mortality rates caus ed by
improved health s tatus .
6. High levels of unemployment becaus e of high birth rates and high population growth
rates which means that the s upply of labour expands more rapidly than the rate of job
opportunities .

7. Dependence in agriculture and primary products s ince many people live in rural areas and
hence they are engaged in agricultural production. However, agricultural production is
poor due to land s carcity and low level of technology. In addition, dependence on primary
products is bad becaus e when their prices fall, people can not get enough foreign
exchange.
8. Dependence on foreign aid to help fund their development programmes . The aid is in form
of grants and loans .
9. High levels of debt s ince many developing countries took loans from commercial banks in
the indus trialized world in 1970s – 1980s which had high interes t rates .This led to quick
accumulation of debts and currently the different countries are s till getting loans from
other organizations like the World Bank.
10. Ins tability or lack of peace inform of war, ethnic rivalry, lack of good governance and
violence caus ed by competition over s carce res ources and power.
11. Weak economy s ince many developing nations depend on agricultural products that are
affected by climatic conditions and world demand that fluctuate a lot.
Development challenges facing Malawi
1. Health s ector
a. Finding ways of reducing infant mortality rate, maternal mortality rate and total
fertility rate.
b. Giving people acces s to s afe water and s anitation.
c. HIV/ AIDS
d. Lack of enough health pers onnel and facilities to s upport everyone in the country.
The challenges above can be s olved through the provis ion of:
a. Curative treatment which involves nurs es and doctors providing health s ervices in
hos pitals .
b. Preventive health work which involves health education and provis ion of primary
health care s ervices clos e to people’s homes .
2. Education s ector
a. High adult illiteracy rate.
b. High s chool drop out rates es pecially at primary level.
c. Lack of qualified teachers .
d. Lack of teaching facilities e.g. clas s rooms and textbooks .
e. Migration of qualified people to other countries .
3. Agricultural s ector
a. S hortage of land s uitable for cultivation.
b. Finding ways of increas ing productivity in the s mall holder s ector.
c. Food ins ecurity.
d. Pres s ure on land res ources which lead to s oil eros ion and degradation.
4. Environmental management
a. Finding ways of enhancing the us e of modern s oil and water cons ervation
technology.
b. Ens uring s us tainable us e of fores try res ources .
5. Trade and commerce
a. Finding ways of promoting micro, s mall and medium s cale bus ines s es by us ing
S ADC and COMES A.
b. High unemployment levels .

c. Finding ways of increas ing export of agricultural commodities and inves ting in the
manufacturing s ector.
Development achievements in Malawi
1. 100% enrolment at primary s chool level which include equal numbers of boys and girls .
2. Low infant mortality rate and low fertility.
3. Many women have acces s to modern contraceptives .
4. Wides pread knowledge on improved agricultural techniques .
Donors
Thes e are ins titutions that give financial and non-financial aid in form of grants or loans .
Kinds of donors
1. Countries giving bilateral aid - bilateral aid is a two s ided aid or aid from one country to
another. Examples include Canada, Denmark, the United S tates of America, Britain,
Germany, J apan, Netherlands , Kuwait, S audi Arabia, Libya and Republic of China.
2. Organizations that give multilateral aid – thes e give aid directly to a government or
s upport s pecific projects and get funding from many countries e.g. World Health
Organization, Food and Agricultural Organization, United Nations Development
Programme and United Nations Children Fund.
3. Non- governmental organizations – Thes e are not funded by governments which may be
local or foreign. They give aid directly to groups or individuals working on projects at the
gras s root level in local communities . Examples include S ave the Children Fund, World
Vis ion International, Plan International and the Canadian Phys icians for Aid and Relief.
Roles of donors in economic development
1. Pos itive
a. Provide funding for development initiatives s uch as s upplementary national
budgets and balance of payments (difference between the amount of money a
country pays to foreign countries and the amount it receives from them).
b. Provide technical as s is tance to developing nations in form of high level manpower
trans fers to make s ure that funds are us ed efficiently.
c. Human res ource development through the provis ion of s cholars hips to help people
from developing countries to s tudy in developed and developing countries .
d. Promote good governance by putting s ome conditions for getting development aid
s uch as trans parency and accountability.
e. Provis ion of s ocial s ervices ins titutions s uch as s chools , hos pitals and bore holes .
2. Negative
a. Encourages dependency s yndrome, that is people who receive donation do not
work hard s ince they always expect to get hand outs .
b. Colonialis m s ince mos t donors expect the country receiving aid to meet certain
conditions s uch as introduction of multiparty s ys tem of government or how aid
s hould be dis tributed.
c. Problems of management and coordination s ince many donors overlap in their
work s o they do not eas ily collaborate or work together when implementing their
projects .
d. Donors may s ometimes bring inappropriate development or development not
s uitable to the local people.
Major donors to Malawi

Denmark, Norway, the United Kingdom, J apan, Germany, the United S tates of America, Republic
of China and Canada.
Headquarters of s ome Malawian donors
World Bank – Was hington, US A; The European Union- Brus s els , Belgium; International Monetary
Fund – Was hington, US A; African Development Bank – Abidjan, Ivory Coas t.
S us tainable development
It refers to the development that meets the need of the pres ent without compromis ing the ability
of the future generations to meet their own needs .
OR
Development that involves the careful us e of res ources without damaging the environment.
Importance of s us tainable development
1. Improves the quality of life.
2. Ens ures efficient us e of res ources .
3. Reduces was tes and pollution through recycling.
4. Promotes touris m s ince places are kept natural and beautiful.
5. Helps to prevent natural dis as ters s ince the environment is cons erved.
6. Helps in energy cons ervation.
7. Helps in cultural pres ervation.
8. Leads to economic growth.
Conditions favourable to s us tainable development
1. Community participation where the community initiates the project and become actively
involved s o that it becomes s ucces s ful becaus e they bes t know how their lives can be
improved.
2. Gender equality where both s exes mus t be actively involved and not one s ex only.
3. Policy and legis lative meas ures in which countries s hould put in place laws that promote
s us tainable development e.g. empowering communities in proper management of natural
res ources .
4. Education and awarenes s through environmental education and telling people the
importance of s us tainable development and problems of the mis us e of res ources . In
addition, training people how to maintain locally available projects e.g. bore hole.
5. Interdependence or mutual as s is tance and cooperation at all levels by acknowledging our
common interes t in the environment.
6. Res pons ibility and accountability by becoming res pons ible for the environmental
management and s aying their actions openly.
7. Availability of financial and non-financial res ources which s hould be cheap and locally
available.
8. Peace and s ecurity to promote s us tainable development.
9. Appropriate technology which s hould us e locally available res ources and renewable
energy.
10. Availability of markets s o that the project’s products are s old eas ily. The prices s hould not
be too low or high.
Cas e s tudies on s us tainable development
1. Community fores t groups in Malawi
The government involves local people in the management of fores ts to encourage proper
us e of the fores ts . The fores try department organizes technical and adminis trative
s upport to the community while the community fores t groups protect fores ts from

encroachment, fire, grazing and theft.
2. Rain fores ts of Guyana
This is Iwokrama International Rain Fores t Programme formed by the agreement of the
Commonwealth and the government of Guyana where a part of it is us ed as a S us tainable
Utilization Area. There is a bus ines s plan which finds out the potential for timber
production, touris m and medicinal plants .
3. Campfire in Zimbabwe or Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous
Res ources
It was initiated in 1989 to allow local communities to have control over management of
res ources . Villagers collectively us e local wildlife on a s us tainable bas is . This is done by
s etting up prices of hunting permits per year in community. Thes e communities s ell
permits to s afari operators to do photographic and hunting expeditions on community
lands .
People and finances
Finances mean money res ources .
Or
Money us ed to s upport an activity or a project.
Common financial ins titutions
1. Banks – a bank is an ins titution which collects funds from the general public and
organizations and s afeguards it as well as providing money to the true owners when
required.
Banks are grouped into:
a. Central Bank or Res erve Bank – It is non-political and acts as a financial wing of
the government. It has the following functions ;
i. Looking after the government’s money by
 Rais ing money to lend to the government
 Looking after money received from taxation, other s ources and
manages government payments .
ii. S tores the nation’s res erves of foreign currency and gold and es tablis hes
rules about foreign exchange (forex)
iii. S upervis es the banking s ys tem in the country to ens ure financial s tability e.g.
ins is ting that each bank s hould hold a certain res erve which can not be lent
out to cus tomers .
iv. Offers s pecialis t advice to the government on management of finances .
v. Is s ues bank notes and coins .
b. Commercial banks – thes e are bus ines s concerns and run to make profits e.g.
National Bank and S tandard Bank. They have the following functions :
i. Foreign exchange res erves .
ii. Financial s tability makers .
iii. Cus todians of wills and jewelry
iv. Arrange forex for cus tomers about to travel abroad as well as importers and
exporters .
v. Lending out money.
vi. Keeping s urplus money for people.
vii. Help inves tors to trans fer their money into another account.

viii. Allows cus tomers to us e cheques to pay bills .
2. The S tock Exchange
It is a highly organized financial market where bonds , s tocks and s hares can be bought or
s old e.g. The Malawi S tock Exchange. Its function is to exchange inves tments in a
quickes t, cheapes t and faires t manner.
3. Credit unions
A credit union is a non-profit cooperative or as s ociation run by its members e.g. S avings
and Credit Cooperative (S ACCO). They are mainly aimed at helping members to s ave
money and acces s loans .
S ome fundamental principles of credit unions include:
a. Non dis criminatory which means people s hould join regardles s of s ex, race,
religion or tribe.
b. Democratic by allowing free participation of members .
c. Educate members in various s kills like book keeping, planning and budgeting.
d. Encourage cooperation and s ocial res pons ibility of their members .
4. Building s ocieties
Organizations that lend money to people who want to purchas e real es tates like property,
buildings and land. Thes e loans are called mortgages which are very large and may be
repaid after a long period of time e.g. over 20 0r 30 years .
5. Ins urance companies
Thes e provide money to compens ate any damage or los s becaus e of running a ris k that
was ins ured agains t e.g. Old Mutual and National Ins urance Company. People and
companies pay premium (an amount paid yearly for the ins urance policy) which makes a
pool (money res erve). Compens ation is therefore paid us ing the pool.
6. Development banks
Thes e are s ubs idiary companies (thos e owned by other large companies ) s et up by
commercial banks to focus on development e.g. Inde Fund. They help indus tries to
expand and modernize.
Problems faced by people when dealing with financial ins titutions
1. Few financial ins titutions which makes few people to have acces s to financial s ervices
s ince mos t of them are located in urban areas s o people from rural areas have to travel
long dis tances to acces s them.
2. Collateral or s ecurity in form of liquid(money) or fixed(machinery) is difficult becaus e
mos t of them need financing.
3. Interes t rates are very high es pecially in developing countries which res ult into failure to
acces s and s ervice loans .
4. Fluctuations in the s upply of money.
Contributions of financial ins titutions to Malawi’s development
1. Provide loans to the government and paras tatals .
2. Provide national markets which help people to s ave and inves t through s tock market or
exchange.
3. High level of bus ines s activity s ince people will als o run ris ky bus ines s due to the
pres ence of ins urance companies .
4. Provide employment to people who are well paid s o their living s tandards improve.
5. Empowerment of people es pecially women through loans provided to s tart s mall
bus ines s es .

6. Encourage s elf reliance and res pons ibility with the group owned as s ociations like credit
unions .
Market forces and economies
An economy is any area in which people make or produce goods and s ervices s uch as a s mall
area(a village), whole country or region or the whole world(the global economy).
In each economy people are involved in production and cons umption.
 Production is any activity which produces goods and s ervices . It has the following factors :
o The land and its products i.e. the land is where raw materials originate from s uch
as agricultural products and minerals .
o Labour i.e. workers or people who change thes e materials into goods .
o Capital refers to money and machinery or tools us ed to produce goods .
 Cons umption refers to goods and s ervices being us ed(goods and s ervices being bought
and cons umed or us ed).
Types of economies
1. A market where buyers and s ellers come in contact phys ically where s tallholders s ell
directly to cons umers or indirectly through intermediaries as in a s tock exchange.
2. A free market economy is where people choos e what to buy and there is little government
interference. Companies produce goods and s ervices that people want and this economy
gives a cons umer a variety of goods and s ervices to choos e from e.g. in US A.
3. A central government economy is called by the government s o people have little choice of
what to grow or manufacture e.g. the previous S oviet Union and Eas tern Europe due to
communis m.
4. A mixed economy is partly controlled by the government like trans port and power as well
as being left to free enterpris e e.g. today’s economies .
Demand and s upply
1. Demand
It refers quantity of goods and s ervices buyers or cons umers are willing to buy at a
s pecific period at a given price.
Or
It is the quantity of goods and s ervices that cons umers are willing and able to buy if they
cons ider the price to be reas onable.
Demand is affected by the following factors :
 Levels of income i.e. hous eholds with very s mall income will afford bas ic
neces s ities only hence low demand for goods while hous eholds with higher levels
of income will afford a variety of goods hence great demand for thos e goods .
 Population change i.e. the increas es and decreas es in population will affect
demand. For ins tance, an increas ed numbers of people would res ult in a higher
demand for goods and s ervices .
 Competition i.e. if there is only one company which makes a particular product and
has a reas onable price, then the cons umer has no choice which means high
demand. Furthermore, if there are many companies manufacturing a particular
product and one company has a reas onable price, there will be a greater demand to
the company that charges lower prices .
 Changes in prices of related goods i.e. if a pers on wants to buy a product, he als o
relates it to the cos t of maintaining it. That is if the price of related goods to a

product is high, the demand for the product will be low.
 Advertis ing i.e. clever and interes ting advertis ement attracts cons umers which
res ult into high demand.
2. S upply
It refers to quantity of goods and s ervices producers or s ellers are willing and able to s ell
at a s pecific period at a s pecific price.
Or
It refers to quantity of goods and s ervices which producers are willing to make or s ell at a
reas onable price.
The point at which the s upply curve cros s es the demand curve is called an Equilibrium
point, that is s upply is equal to demand.
S upply of money
This is currency in circulation outs ide the banking s ys tem and depos its in banks and building
s ocieties . Too much money in s upply but les s goods to be purchas ed leads to high levels of
inflation (general ris e in price level of goods and s ervices ).
The res erve bank controls the s upply of money by:
1. Playing around with dis count rate i.e. the interes t rate charged to commercial banks that
borrow money from it. Lowering the dis count rate will lead to great demand for loans
hence high s upply of money while rais ing of dis count rate will lead to low demand for
money hence reducing the s upply of money.
2. Res erve requirement or res erve ratio which is the minimum ratio of cas h res erves to the
depos its that the central bank requires commercial banks or building s ocieties to hold.
The lower the res erve requirement, the higher the s upply of money and the higher the
res erve ratio, the lower the s upply of money.
3. Open market operations i.e. when the central bank buys or s ells financial s ecurities in an
open market. S upply of money can be reduced when the central bank s ells s ecurities to
people s o people will us e their money to buy them. S upply of money can be increas ed by
buying back s ome of its s ecurities .
The demand for money
This is a s ituation in which people would like to have money. Money is needed becaus e of its
purchas ing power over goods and s ervices s ince it is us ed as a medium of exchange.
Demand for money is determined by:
1. Interes t rates i.e. the higher the interes t rate , the lower the demand becaus e the cos t of
money is high while the lower the interes t rate, the higher the demand s ince the cos t of
money is low s o many people can afford it.
2. Average price of goods and s ervices i.e. if their prices are high, more money will be
needed for their purchas e while when the prices are low, les s money will be needed for
their purchas e.
3. Real income refers to the amount of goods that could be bought with the money received
during a period of time. For example, a K100 note today does not have the s ame buying
power as the K100 note in 1985. Therefore, the higher the real income, the les s the
demand for money s ince low amount of money can buy more goods . The lower the real
income, the higher the demand s ince people will need more money to buy the s ame
quantity of goods .

TOPIC 2: CULTURE AND CHANGE
Culture refers to anything that is s ocially learned or acquired e.g. beliefs , art and morals .
Cultural characteris tics of eas tern culture
1. Family s tructures cons is t of extended families and joint families where more than one
married couple live together in the s ame hous ehold. Families are headed by men while
women play a role of rais ing children and taking care of the hous e.
2. Food is prepared us ing herbs and s pices .
3. Hos pitality and greetings i.e. they s tres s the importance of honouring gues ts by giving
them large quantities of food and treating them nicely s ince they are s een as vis itors s ent
by God. In addition, if you are invited to dinner, the hos t pays for it.
4. Marriages are arranged and public dis play of affection between s pous es is not us ual.
5. Major common religions are Is lam, Hinduis m, Buddhis m and traditional religion.
6. Dres s ing s tyles i.e. in predominantly Mos lem s ocieties , mos t women dres s in clothes that
cover their hair and faces which are us ually long. Men wear long-s leeved one piece cloth
that covers the whole body. There are other s ocieties which have their own traditional
dres s ing.
Cultural characteris tics of wes tern culture
1. Family s tructures are nuclear which cons is t of a hus band, wife and their unmarried
children. S ingle parent families are als o common.
2. Common types of food include rice, bread and pas ta. Meat and vegetables form part of
their diet. They als o like to eat out in res taurants . Recipe books are us ed for preparing
food.
3. Hos pitality and greetings i.e. they res pect privacy and vis its are upon invitation with
advance notification. If you are invited for dinner or lunch, everyone pays for thems elves .
It is quite common to be greeted with a hands hake or a kis s .
4. Arranged marriages are unacceptable and people dis play their affection in public.
5. Major common religions include Chris tianity and others are atheis ts ( people who do not
believe in God).
6. Dres s s tyles i.e. men wear s hirts , trous ers or s uits while women wear dres s es , s kirts ,
blous es , s uits and s ometimes trous ers .
7. Common languages include Englis h which is widely s poken, French, German and Dutch.
Impact of wes tern and eas tern cultures on Malawi and Africa
1. Change in family s tructures i.e. mos t Africans practis e extended families in which people
live at the s ame place called homes tead or compound as well as s ingle parent and
nuclear families .
2. Coming of various forms of religion which were brought by wes ternization s uch as
Chris tianity and eas tern religions s uch as Is lam and Hinduis m.
3. Dis s olution of traditional religion s ince many Africans adopted Chris tianity and Is lam
which led to extinction of African Traditional Religion.
4. Review of certain beliefs and practices becaus e many Africans adopted wes tern and
eas tern cultures . For example, wes ternization has made women to have the s ame powers
as men.
5. Copying modern ways of living s ince many Africans viewed wes ternization as a highly
developed life. For example, women play a role in economic development, children making

pers onal choices of careers and mos t people depending on education and not farming.
6. Copying of wes tern mus ic and dance s ince they bring different emotions when they s ing
and dance s uch as joy and s orrow. There is als o an introduction of wes tern mus ical
ins truments s uch as piano.
7. Copying of wes tern and eas tern ways of dres s ing s uch as s uits , trous ers , s hirts , blous es
and s kirts from wes terners and head gears as well as robes from the eas t.
8. Copying of wes tern languages s uch as Englis h and French which are us ed in mos t
African countries .
9. Copying of wes tern and eas tern ways of preparing food by us ing herbs and s pices from
the eas t as well as the pres ence of recipe books from the wes t.
Cultural pres ervation
It means deliberate s teps taken to keep alive as pects of people’s culture e.g. language and
s tories .
Or
It is the pres ervation of cultural heritage(as pects of the pas t that people pres erve, cultivate,
s tudy and pas s to the next generation) as well as maintenance and s us tenance of norms , beliefs
and cus toms in the s ociety. Thes e as pects are intangible(what is felt, known and experienced)
e.g. traditions , habits and cus toms as well as tangible e.g. paintings and buildings .
Importance of pres erving culture
1. Promotes identity due to different elements s uch as dres s ing, greetings , language and
mus ic.
2. Promotes unders tanding of other people becaus e of economic development that brings
people of different places together who have different objects and cus toms . When thes e
cultural groups are mixed, they unders tand and res pect each other.
3. Allows pas s ing on of culture to other generations e.g. initiation ceremonies , chains of
command within a family, mode of dres s ing, cultural s kills and bas ket weaving.
4. Promote more effective us e of cultural as s ets through increas ed acces s and better public
unders tanding of their value.
5. Promotes cultural s us tenance becaus e s ignificant cultural res ources are pres erved s uch
as pieces of art and buildings .
S trategies us ed to pres erve culture
1. Provis ion of educational and awarenes s programmes that promote cultural pres ervation.
2. Books which dis s eminate cultural heritage les s ons in the s chools curriculum.
3. Arts and crafts that expres s cultural beliefs and traditions .
4. Folktales , proverbs , poems and other narrative forms of oral tradition.
5. Mus eums and cultural centres in which objects and information about the pas t are kept
and exhibited.
6. Policy and legis lative meas ures which control the amount of imported cultural products
e.g. copyright laws and limiting the percentage of domes tically produced programmes .
7. International cultural cooperation through s igned agreements either bilateral or
multilateral bas ed on pres entation of African arts and crafts or mus ic to wes tern
audiences and trans fer of knowledge on cultural ins titutions and activities from the wes t.
8. Traditional chains of command in which traditional leaders play a part in traditional
fes tivals and is s ues e.g. dis s eminating to the people the importance of pres erving culture
s uch as traditional medicine.
9. Cultural organizations , clubs and s ocieties which dis s eminate the importance of cultural

pres ervation.
10. Mus ic and dance
Cons traints faced in pres erving culture
1. Modernization i.e. people’s way of life has changed due to technological improvements
and wes ternization.
2. Changes in ideologies i.e. pres ent ideas and beliefs held by different groups of people
may be in conflict with cultural values hence leading to the res is tance of traditional
religions .
3. Res is tance by new generations s ince the youth may res is t s ome cultural practices
becaus e they look at them as old fas hioned and not in line with modern demands .
4. The media s uch as radio, televis ion and news paper has brought cultural life and
technological s tandards that are eas ily accepted by a large population.
5. Need for change s ince s ome cultural practices hinder s ocio-cultural development s o they
need to be eradicated.
6. Lack of financial, human and other res ources to achieve the proces s of cultural
pres ervation. For example, finance is needed to fund the activities towards cultural
pres ervation and people are needed to work in thes e programmes .
7. Human rights i.e. s ome cultural practices are violations of human rights s o there is no
choice but to change them.
Culture and development
S ome cultural values promote development through the following ways :
1. Unity which is brought by unders tanding and res pecting of other people’s cultures .
2. Cultural touris m which makes vis itors to s tay longer and s pend more money in an area s o
this generates foreign exchange.
3. The us e of vernacular language on the media makes people unders tand s ome important
mes s ages s o people feel that they are part of the s ociety.
4. Incorporation of valuable as pects of traditional culture into modern s ys tems of education
and health s uch as partners hip between wes tern medicine and traditional healers .
5. Employment opportunities in trades like arts and crafts as well as cultural touris m and the
hotel indus try.
6. Traditional chains of commands in which leaders are us ing their power to pers uade
people s uch as fis hermen to act res pons ibly by not fis hing during the breeding s eas on.
Cultural practices which hinder development
1. Initiation ceremonies practis ed by s ome tribes s uch as the Yao make children to be
withdrawn from s chool s o the children might think that s chool is not important and get
married early.
2. The ritual of ‘fis i’ in which a man has s exual intercours e with a newly initiated girl to bring
her into womanhood entices the girl into early marriages and hence drop out of s chool
and even contract HIV/ AIDS .
3. The belief in witchcraft prevents people from s ucceeding in life becaus e thos e that feel
that they might be bewitched avoid doing actions which as s is t in development.
Multiculturalis m
It means recognition and appreciation of many cultural groups within a s ociety or having many
cultures .
It is s ometimes known as cultural pluralis m or multi-ethnicity or multi-racial.
Factors that enhance multiculturalis m

1. Modernization i.e. indus trialization, eas y movement of goods as well as the media have
led to changes in languages , as pirations (ambitions ), patterns of cons umption and
lifes tyles .
2. Religion i.e. different forms of religion followed by different religious groups affect
cultural values .
3. Race which is grouping of people according to their phys ical characteris tics (e.g. colour
of s kin and hair, s hape of eyes and nos e) res ults into multiculturalis m if different races
mix.
4. Ethnicity brings a s ociety with a multicultural s ociety becaus e different tribes s tay
together.
5. Migration due to conflicts , poor governance, s ocial and economic reas ons brings people
of different cultures together.
6. Trade caus es movement of people from one place to another s o different races or ethnic
groups live together and s hare different cultures .
7. Intermarriage brings cultural changes s ince different tribes marry.
8. Citizens hip which is either through birth or choice makes people from different countries
s tay at one place.
Impact of multiculturalis m on development
1. Pos itive
a. Unity and tolerance due to people’s res pect for each others cultures and rights .
b. Improved country’s image becaus e multiculturalis m indicates that people from
different backgrounds are tolerant of one another.
c. Exchange of cultures s ince s taying together makes people to be familiar of other’s
cultures .
d. Exchange of ideas becaus e multiculturalis m helps the country to be updated with
development around the world.
e. Exchange of s kills becaus e a country with good multiculturalis m policies can get
s killed employees from other countries when domes tic labour can not meet local
demand in the time required.
f.
Encourage global markets due to acces s to influential networks in other countries ,
potential for introduction of new products and tes ting of products on global
markets .
2. Negative
a. Ethnic or racial rivalry becaus e one racial or ethnic group wants to exercis e
s upremacy or refus es common s et of rules for peaceful co-exis tence.
b. Dilution of other cultures becaus e s ome cultural value influences on each other
res ulting into dilution of other cultural values .
c. Economic exploitation s ince minority groups or the les s influential groups may be
deprived from opportunities by the majority. In addition, their qualifications may not
be eas ily recognized.
d. Expens ive to promote becaus e the recently migrated might need language
acquis ition, medical care and accommodation.
Dis crimination
This means unequal treatment of equals .
Or

It means any exclus ion, res triction or preference which has the purpos e of impairing the
recognition, enjoyment or exercis e of human rights or fundamental freedoms of life.
Factors that contribute to dis crimination
1. Racis m which involves treating one group of people les s favorably than the other due to
phys ical characteris tics . This is s ince s ome races believe that they are s uperior to the
other.
2. Ethnicity or ethnocentris m is done becaus e of ethnic background as a res ult of one ethnic
group exercis ing s uperiority.
3. Gender preferences which involves treating a pers on les s fairly than the other due to their
s ex, marital s tatus or becaus e they are pregnant.
4. Religion or cas te s ys tem which involves dis crimination due to differences in religion or
s ocial ranks .
5. Dis ability dis crimination is done due to people’s phys ical and mental health. Dis abled
people face problems in acces s ing education and employment.
6. Ill health dis crimination becaus e of poor health s tatus es pecially chronic dis eas es e.g.
HIV/ AIDS . People face barriers to acces s good quality health treatment, education,
training and promotion.
7. Nationalis m refers to dis crimination agains t foreigners becaus e citizens of a s pecific
country are too patriotic towards their country and feel foreigners only come to exploit
their bes t country.
8. Economic and s ocial s tatus dis criminate agains t others becaus e people from wealthy
families or thos e who have received good education at a pres tigious (admired and
res pected) s chool exercis e s uperiority.
9. Political dis crimination is caus ed by holding different political ideologies .
Cas e s tudies of dis crimination
1. Apartheid in S outh Africa
This was due to racial dis crimination which res ulted in great inequalities in income
between the blacks and the whites . It als o led to inequalities in training, promotion and
entrenchment. There was als o unequal dis tribution of as s ets like preventing the black
Africans from owning land.
2. Cas te s ys tem in India
Cas te refers to s pecify a group of people having a s pecific s ocial rank. This s ys tem is
clos ely connected with Hinduis m in India and clas s ifies the Hindus into four groups in
hierarchical order. The members of each group believe they are des cendants of one
ances tor.
The four bas ic groups include:
 Brahmans who are the pries ts and the learned clas s .
 Ks hatriyas who are rulers , warriors and property owners .
 Vais hyas who are traders or deal with commercial livelihoods .
 S hudras who are labourers .
The s ys tem has the untouchables who do not belong to any of the cas te groups and were
his torically not allowed in temples and other public places . Their jobs include toilet
cleaning and garbage(rubbis h) removal hence the ‘untouchable’.
3. Racis m in America
The Ku Klux Klan is a white mos t influential s upremacis t organization in the US A which

believes that blacks are inferior to the whites and aims at keeping America white. They
als o believe that people of different races s hould be s eparated hence dis courage inter
racial marriages . The Ku Klux Klan is involved in racial crimes . For example, in March,
1997, a 13 year old black boy who rode his bicycle in a white neighbourhood was
attacked and left brain damaged. In addition, in 1981, a black man was chained and
dragged to his death by a pick-up truck in Texas .
4. Neo-Nazis m in Germany
The Nazi Party ruled Germany under the leaders hip of Adolf Hitler from 1933 to 1945.
Under his leaders hip, he endors ed racial violence and genocide e.g. the notable one in
which millions of J ews were s ys tematically killed. The Neo-Nazi is a group of right wing
extremis ts who believe that Germany s hould be for Germans that is for thos e who have a
German ances try. The Neo-Nazi are therefore involved in violence and hatred of
foreigners s uch that they engage in phys ical and verbal attacks on foreigners .
Effects of dis crimination
1. S ocial ins tability
2. Crime
3. Retarded development due to was tage of res ources during conflicts .
4. Unfair dis tribution of res ources .
5. Affects people’s careers and academic performance.
6. High organizational cos ts due to abs enteeis m.
7. Low productivity due to low morale and abs enteeis m.
8. Decreas ed energy and s tres s related ailments (dis eas es )
Efforts to curb dis crimination
1. The ratification of human rights by nations which means countries agree to apply
principles contained in the Charter of the United Nations which recognizes that all people
are born free and equal in dignity rights and that everyone is entitled to all human rights
and freedoms without any dis tinction.
2. Entrenchment of Bill of Rights in the cons titution by different countries s hows that no law
can be varied. A bill of rights is a lis t of rights of individuals in a country. The Cons titution
of Malawi has entrenched in it the bill of rights .
3. Es tablis hment of ins titutions that promote human rights e.g. Amnes ty International and
Malawi Centre for Human Rights .
TOPIC 3: GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT

Gender means the phys ical and s ocial condition of being male or female. It looks at a pers on’s
s elf perception of being male or female in a s ociety or culture or expectations that people may
have in relation to roles and res pons ibilities becaus e they are male or female.
Gender roles and res pons ibilities are made by the s ociety and learned, therefore, they can be
changed.
Examples of gender roles for women include: crying at funeral, taking care of children at home,
cooking for the family and taking care of s ick people.
Examples of gender roles for men include digging at funeral, a breadwinner for the family and
heading the hous ehold.
Gender development is the proces s of removal of s ocio-cultural problems to mobility, acces s to
res ources and opportunities and emergence of a more jus t s ociety.

His tory of gender
It can be traced back to as early as 1945 when the United Nations was formed.
The following is a brief s ummary of UN approaches to gender development worldwide:
1. The Anti Poverty Approach (1960-1970)
It concentrated on reducing poverty of the poor countries . It aimed at income generating
activities that would help in creating increas ed capital accumulation and income per
capita.
It failed to help reduce poverty to the vulnerable groups e.g. women, children, the elderly
and the dis abled.
2. The Welfare Approach (1970-1980)
It was adopted in the s econd development decade of the United Nations . It focus ed on
redis tribution of control over res ources . S pecial welfare programmes were des igned for
the vulnerable groups in the s ociety in order to addres s the inequalities that exis ted
between men and women.
This led to the development of Women in Development Approach
3. Women in Development Approach (1975-1985)
It aims at increas ing opportunities for women to participate in, contribute to and benefit
from the development of their s ocieties and economies .
It was criticized becaus e:
 It focus ed on women in the development proces s .
 It as s umed that women are pas s ive recipients of development and not active
participants in the development proces s which is not true.
4. Gender and Development Approach (from late 1985)
It includes both men and women as agents of development. It is bas ed on the fact that it
is only efforts that cons ider men and women as partners and not competitors in
development that can s ucces s fully bring about women’s equality and empowerment.
Gender is s ues in Africa
1. Gender, education and training
Education and training of both s exes are very es s ential for development. However, in
mos t developing countries , es pecially in Africa, education for females is a problem.
Dis crimination in a girl’s acces s to education is due to cus toms and traditions that lead to
a girl’s early marriage and pregnancy. For ins tance, a girl is given heavy domes tic work,
therefore s he can not do well in clas s and als o mis s es clas s es .
2. Gender and health
Both men and women have a right to quality healthcare but women do not enjoy this right
due to inequality. For example, many women in developing countries have limited power
on is s ues affecting their reproductive health becaus e men decide when and how often to
reproduce. In addition, the women are expos ed to cultural practices that negatively
impact on their health s uch as kus as a fumbi.
3. Gender and violence
Violence agains t women refers to any act by men that res ults in or is likely to res ult in
phys ical, ps ychological or s exual harm or s uffering in women. It occurs at home, in work
places , s chools and public places .
Violence agains t women is done in the following ways :
 S exual abus e which include rape, unwelcome s exual comments , reques t for s exual

favours by people in authority in order to get favours , traditional practices that
promote unwanted s exual practices e.g.fis i.
 Phys ical abus e which include wife battering (beating)
 Ps ychological or emotional abus e refers to the calling of women bad names ,
making threats to hurt them and is olating them by controlling who they s hould s ee
or talk to.
 Economic abus e which include a hus band refus ing his wife getting or keeping a
job, taking her money away without her cons ent, s natching away productive
property upon the death of her hus band or denying women acces s to credit s ince
they are women.
4. Gender and environment
The environment is rapidly being depleted in Africa due to high population growth and
poor land management practices . Women are hardes t hit becaus e of their gender roles of
fetching water and firewood which are becoming s carce becaus e of defores tation.
Women als o lack acces s and control to productive res ources e.g. land, improved
technology and extens ion s ervices .
5. Gender, power and decis ion making
Women are underrepres ented in mos t levels of public office. For example, in J uly, 1999,
there were only 17 female MPs out of 193MPs and 4 out 28 cabinet minis ters .
6. Gender and religion
All religions s upport the idea that women’s mos t important roles are as wives and
mothers . For example, Mos lems encourage wifely obedience while Hindus want their
women to be faithful, dutiful and devoted. Chris tians s upport male domination according
to the letters of S t Paul.
7. Gender and rights
The cons titutions of many countries give men and women equal rights . For ins tance, the
Malawian Cons titution s tates that women have rights to regulate their fertility and inherit
property. However, mos t women are not aware of their rights . Cus tomary laws , religion
and culture keep women in an inferior pos ition e.g. women do not know how to buy and
regis ter land or claim owners hip of property.
8. Gender and culture
In s ome s ocieties including Malawi , both boys and girls undergo initiation ceremonies s o
that they are taught their cus toms e.g. girls are taught how to be wives and mothers
which means they are meant to do hous ehold chores only.
Laws , rules and regulations that are gender bias ed in Malawi and Africa
1. The Wills and Inheritance Act - Malawi’s cons titution gives women the right to inherit
property. However, cus tomary laws affect the women’s rights where a man dies without
leaving a will. Thes e laws depend whether the people involved live in patrilineal or
matrilineal s ys tem. If a hus band dies in a matrilineal s ys tem, his kin e.g. maternal uncles ,
brothers and s is ters , nephews and nieces inherit property while in patrilineal s ys tem, his
brothers and father inherit property leaving the widow is olated without any property.
2. Maternity leave - Many women face problems in getting maternity leave es pecially in the
private s ector becaus e they think that if a woman gets maternity leave, their bus ines s
may s uffer. In addition, many employers do not employ women to avoid a s ituation when
a woman will need maternity leave.

3. Citizens hip laws - The citizens hip act of Malawi and many African countries s ay that upon
marrying a foreigner, the Malawian woman will los e her citizens hip unles s s he renounces
her foreign citizens hip on her 1s t annivers ary of her marriage. In addition, children born
from a Malawian woman by a foreigner can not be Malawians while a Malawian man
married to a foreigner s till remains a Malawian.
4. S us pens ion of pregnant girls - In mos t African countries , including Malawi, pregnant
teenage girls were expelled from s chool.
5. Religious laws - Many religions do not allow women to take leading roles e.g. pries ts in
the Roman Catholic are males .
6. Marriage laws - In many African countries , men by law are allowed to have more than one
woman without the cons ent of the firs t wife. However, a woman can not have two
hus bands .
7. Travel regulations – in s ome African countries , a woman’s right to acquire travel
documents are res tricted by her marriage. In s uch countries , a hus band is s uppos ed to
cons ent if the wife is s uppos ed to be given a pas s port.
8. S upport of children born out of wedlock – in the laws of many African countries , mothers
who have children out of wedlock s hould receive financial s upport from the res pons ible
father for the child’s upkeep. The problem is the amount of s upport required is not
regularly updated e.g. in Malawi it was s et at MK250 per month in 1999 which is
inadequate for s upporting the child.
Revis ed rules and regulations
1. Wills and inheritance act – This helps the women to acquire property if the hus band is
dead. In a patrilineal s ys tem, the widow is entitled to all hous ehold belongings and two
fifths of the res t of his property. This is als o s hared with the children and other direct
dependants . In matrilineal s ys tem, the widow is entitled to half the hous ehold belongings .
The other half is dis tributed among the dead hus band’s relatives .
2. Dres s act – it made it pos s ible for women to wear clothing appropriate for their work.
3. Equality in education has been achieved by doing the following:
a. S tudents who are s us pended due to pregnancy return to s chool one year after birth.
b. S chool and teacher training curricula have been revis ed to make them gender
s ens itive.
c. The requirement to work s chool uniform at primary s chool has been abolis hed.
d. S chool fees for girls in s econdary s chools were abolis hed for two years .
e. A s cholars hip fund was es tablis hed to help girls s tay in s econdary s chools .
Ways of achieving gender balance in Africa
1. Provide education to both boys and girls .
2. Equal opportunities to both s exes when providing credits , income generating activities
and training.
3. Encourage the media to include pos itive gender mes s ages into programmes s uch as s oap
operas .
4. Civic education programmes to dis s eminate girls or women rights .
5. Es tablis hment of organizations that s hould as s is t in dealing with cus tomary law and
protection of human rights .
Effects of gender bias
1. Retards development becaus e women are not allowed to make important decis ions and
do not have acces s to economic opportunities .

2. Women have unequal acces s to opportunities s uch as education, employment and
bus ines s which will likely res ult in s hortage of s killed human res ources .
3. High levels of unemployment s ince many women do not have acces s to economic
opportunities .
4. Malnutrition and dis eas es s ince women who are involved in running farms and
hous eholds lack acces s to economic opportunities .
5. Early marriages for girls s ince a s ingle parent family will withdraw a girl from s chool as
one way of ending poverty.
Gender balance
It means provis ion of equal opportunities and equity(fairnes s ) between men and women in
human rights , res ources and s tatus in the s ociety.
Indicators of gender balance
1. Equality and equity in education where there is high educational enrolment for both s exes ,
enrolment of girls in non-traditional cours es e.g. engineering and als o the curriculum
s hould be gender s ens itive.
2. Equality and equity in healthcare related s ervices where both s exes have acces s to
appropriate healthcare s uch as information on s exual and reproductive healthcare.
3. Equality and equity in environmental management in which both s exes have acces s to,
control and owners hip of productive res ources e.g. land, improved technology and
extens ion s ervices .
4. Equality and equity in power and decis ion making at all levels by both s exes as well as
s haring power in influential pos itions in the central executives of parties .
5. Equality and equity before the law and human rights by res pecting for and adequate
promotion as well as protection of human rights of both men and women. In addition
people will be aware of their rights s o that they can fully enjoy them.
6. Equality and equity in economic opportunities by both s exes in employment, credit
facilities and agricultural inputs .
Importance of gender balance
1. Abundant s killed human res ources s ince both s exes will have equal acces s to education
and training.
2. Equal contributions to development becaus e both men and women will have equal acces s
to power s tructures that control s ociety and determine development is s ues .
3. More community development activities due to active participation by both s exes .
4. Equal acces s to economic res ources like credit that will make more women and men to
s tart s mall bus ines s es as s elf employment.
5. Improved health s tatus and s tandards of living s ince both s exes have acces s to quality
health and education.
Gender platform of action
This is the powerful agenda that is aimed at empowering women in different countries .
It mainly aims at the following:
 Accelerating the implementation of methods that help women to advance or develop.
 Removing all obs tacles (barriers ) to women’s active participation in all s ectors of public
and private life by having full and equal s hare in economic, s ocial, cultural and political
decis ion-making.
Examples of gender platforms of action include:

 The Beijing Platform for Action that was adopted at the Fourth World Conference on
Women held in Beijing, China in S eptember, 1995.
 The Malawi National Platform for Action developed in 1997 by the Malawian Government.
The Malawi National Platform for Action
It makes a commitment to improve the s tatus of women in the 21s t Century and identifies four
priority areas namely:
1. Poverty alleviation and empowerment – women s hall be empowered in:
a. Agriculture by making policies and programmes in the Minis try of Agriculture
gender s ens itive, increas ing women’s acces s to agriculture and irrigation extens ion
s ervices as well as credits .
b. Employment by increas ing women’s acces s in formal employment and eliminating
s exual haras s ment in the work place.
c. Women’s reproductive health by increas ing women’s acces s to quality health care
and eliminating attitudes and s ocio-cultural expectations that negatively impact on
women.
d. Food s ecurity by increas ing women’s acces s to better nutrition and eliminating
hous ehold food ins ecurity.
e. Environmental management by increas ing women’s participation in environmental
decis ion making and contribution to environmental friendly technologies .
2. The girl child who is us ually dis criminated agains t s hall be as s is ted us ing the following:
a. Eliminating all s ocio-cultural practices that negatively impact on the girl child by
provis ion of quality education and s chool environment, eliminating dis crimination
agains t a dis abled girl, eliminating prevalence of s treet children in urban centres
and domes tic practices that harm the girl’s health as well as making the s chool
environment friendly to the girl child.
3. Violence agains t women s uch as rape and wife battering s hall be addres s ed by preventing
and eliminating violence agains t women in public places , ins titutions and homes as well
as examining the extent and nature of violence agains t women.
4. Peace among women in families s hall be addres s ed by promoting equality and protection
of human rights and women, making the s ociety and women aware of human rights as
provided in the cons titution as well as internationally accepted s tandards of human rights
and the rights of women.
Other propos ed objectives of the Malawi National Platform for Action
1. To remove dis criminatory practices agains t women, children and the dis abled in hous ing
loan s chemes to enhance their productivity.
2. To improve the poor’s , women’s and dis abled people’s acces s to land and land tenure.
3. To provide adequate s afe environmental infras tructure and s ervices .
4. To increas e the number of women in decis ion making pos itions in political s ys tems at all
levels .
5. To minimis e the effects of armed conflicts on women.
6. To make the army gender s ens itive and its compos ition gender balanced.
7. To enhance(accelerate) women’s capacity to participate in decis ion-making and
leaders hip pos itions .
Roles of the gender platform of action
1. It helps to ens ure full enjoyment by women and girls of all human rights and fundamental

freedoms .
2. It recommends meas ures to eliminate all forms of dis crimination agains t women and the
girl child.
3. Encourages men to participate fully in the actions towards gender equality.
4. It promotes women’s economic independence by ens uring women’s acces s to economic
res ources like credit, training, land and employment.
5. It helps in ens uring equal acces s to and equal treatment of women and men in education
and health care.
6. It lobbies for the review and removal of the laws and cultural beliefs and practices that
promote gender im-balance.
TOPIC 4: CITIZENS HIP

Civil s ociety
It refers to all non-governmental or s tate organs and ins titutions that participate in a relatively
organized manner towards the exercis e of power by the s tate.
Or
It means different organizations , unions and as s ociations which have the right to work in various
areas in a country without the interference of the government as long as they do not contravene
the cons titution.
Their main objective is to get the participation of community or gras s -root level in decis ionmaking in
matters of local interes t.
Ins titutions of civil s ociety in Malawi
1. Ins titutions or agencies
Thes e are intermediate agencies that operate with full-time s taff and provide a variety of
s ervices to people’s organizations . They are clas s ified into four namely:
a. Development, jus tice and advocacy NGOs – thes e are commonly called
development NGOs and work to s ervice autonomous people’s organizations by
doing experiments to maintain s ocial order, participation and s us tainability. Thes e
are autonomous and politically neutral in their activities though they depend on
donor funding.
b. Traditional NGOs – thes e are charitable, welfare and relief organizations that
provide s ervices to the poor through orphanages , feeding programmes ,
rehabilitation, homes for the elderly, pers ecuted and others . They focus on
individuals and families that are unable to cope with poverty s ituations .
c. Funding agencies – thes e are foundations and grant giving agencies which do not
have direct link with gras s root people but largely function to s upport through loans
and donations .
d. Mutant NGOs – thes e are s pecial cons ultancy organizations which provide advice
and direction on the us e of donor funds . They are government initiated, private
bus ines s corporations and various s hort time organizations that us ually exis t for a
s hort time hence their mutant.
2. Members hip bas ed organizations
Thes e operate on voluntary members hip dealing with non-s tock(non-profit) activities .
They are s ub-divided into two major groups namely:
a. Profes s ionals , academics and civic organizations

b. People’s organizations (i.e. gras s root groups in communities ) which are divided
into s ub groups :
i. Government run organizations which are organized directly or indirectly by
the government or politicians .
ii. Autonomous people’s organizations that may be marginalized communities
and s ectors .
3. Influential non-governmental individuals (e.g. academics , church leaders , party leaders
and profes s ionals ) whos e s tatements or obs ervations are regarded as being
repres entative of the s ociety e.g. Nels on Mandela.
Roles of ins titutions of the civil s ociety
1. Provide education to people in health, human rights , environment and others .
2. Provide economic opportunities to gras s root people.
3. Help the government to enforce s ome of its policies and programmes like protection of
the environment.
4. Provide reports aimed at s ens itizing the general public on is s ues involved and as s is t in
the formulation or modification of the government’s policies .
5. S ens itize people on their rights and freedoms in the democratization proces s .
6. Provide expertis e, financial and technical res ources to facilitate a particular as pect of
development.
7. Act as arbitrators by helping in s olving problems between two parties .
Importance of citizen participation in civil s ociety
1. People are motivated when the project is done in their community.
2. Cooperation and unity s ince people are able to dis cus s ways of s olving their problems .
3. Develop a s ens e of owners hip and caring of new facilities when they are completed.
4. Promote development
5. S trengthens the civil s ociety
How citizens participate in ins titutions of civil s ociety
1. By being members of different ins titutions .
2. By attending meetings of thes e ins titutions .
3. By contributing ideas , finances and other res ources .
4. By implementing the information provided by thes e ins titutions .
Unions , as s ociations and national s ervice
 Unions or trade unions are members hip bas ed civil s ociety organizations formed by a
group of workers to promote and protect their rights . They aim at mobilizing, organizing
and educating employees to change the individual and s ociety.
Their major principles include action, participation, commitment and activity.
They have a cons titution and are legally protected. They als o reflect common profes s ional
characteris tics like teaching and law e.g. the Civil S ervants Trade Union and Teachers
Union of Malawi.
 An as s ociation is a members hip bas ed civil s ociety ins titution that is made up of people
who belong to the s ame profes s ion and are involved in activities that reflect the s ame
objectives . They mobilize, organize and educate members to trans form the individual and
s ociety. They als o have a cons titution and are legally protected. Examples include Tea
Growers As s ociation, National As s ociation of S mall holder Farmers (NAS FAM) and
Tobacco As s ociation of Malawi (TAMA)

Roles of unions and as s ociations
1. Provide leaders hip for their members .
2. Training members negotiation and decis ion making s kills .
3. Expres s ing united views of their members to the authority.
4. Promoting and protecting rights of their members .
5. Influencing government decis ions and policies in matters affecting members .
Unions and as s ociations us ually us e the principle of negotiation to addres s the members
concerns . However, they may res ort to a number of indus trial actions in order to s ens itize the
employers to addres s their demands . Thes e include:
1. Go-s low – employees may decide to put pres s ure on an employer by reducing the amount
of their daily productivity output. This will us ually develop into either a s it-in or s tay-away.
2. S tay-away – union members s tay away from normal duty in order to pres s urize
employers to agree to their demands .
3. S it-in – employees report for duties at work place but collect thems elves at an open place
s taying away from work-related activities while the employer looks on.
4. Proces s ion – workers mobilize and organize each other into a group and parade through
a s treet demons tration us ing placards which bear their grievances or concerns .
Unions / as s ociations benefits
1. Provis ion of credit s chemes .
2. Protection agains t unfair dis mis s al
3. Ens uring payment of pens ion s chemes .
4. Legal as s is tance when a worker is victimized.
5. Improved relations hip between the employers and employees (workers )
6. Better working conditions
7. Education facilities
8. Freedom from exploitation.
9. S ick leave benefits
10. S ocial welfare activities
11. Trans port
12. Better accommodation
13. Maternity protection
14. Better wages and s alaries
National s ervice
This is an arrangement where members of both government and civic community do their
voluntary s ervices to as pects of development for their own lives .
Cas e s tudies of national s ervice
1. Malawi S ocial Action Fund (MAS AF)
This is a fund which was s et up by the Malawian government in partners hip with the
World Bank in order to s timulate and implement various activities at community level.
MAS AF activities are bas ed on voluntaris m and communalis m s ince communities
organize thems elves to contribute to certain as pects of the project. The contribution can
be either through the moulding of bricks or provis ion of building expertis e while MAS AF
s upports the project through financial input.
2. Malawi Young Pioneers
This defunct movement had training bas es throughout the country. The aims of the
training bas es were to promote unity, s elf reliance and a hardworking s pirit.

Candidates were mainly recruited from rural areas and s econdary s chools during the long
s chool vacations . The non-s tudent candidates were being trained for ten months and
could either graduate or return to their homes to practis e the s kills learnt. S tudent
candidates would s erve in the MYP during the three month holiday and go home to do
leaders hip roles to develop the country.
It was dis mantled by the Malawi Army in December, 1993 s ince its activities were in
conflict with the democratization proces s .
3. Youth Week
It was es tablis hed in 1971. This involved a week long period by both the s chools and local
communities dedicated to various development projects . Thes e activities included
building s chool, cons truction of roads and bridges , as s is ting public ins titutions like
hos pitals .
Importance of the national s ervice
1. Eradicate illiteracy
2. Encourage community hygiene
3. Protect the environment
4. Enhances national development
International organizations
Thes e work in different development activities in Malawi and examples include World Vis ion
International, Plan International and CARE.
Types of development activities
1. Water s upply and s anitation
2. Environmental cons ervation
3. Infras tructure development
4. Gender promotion
5. Human rights and good governance
6. Agricultural activities
7. Health is s ues
Importance of international organizations
1. Provide technical expertis e in areas of education, politics , health and media.
2. Provide economic opportunities to local communities and individuals by financing s mall
enterpris e projects .
3. Initiate and s trengthen bilateral relations due to exchange of expertis e, information and
trade.
4. Bridging the gap between the rich and the poor by provis ion of economic opportunities to
the poor.
5. Promote and protect human rights and good governance.
6. Globalization s ince every activity by the international organizations involves
communication s o it makes the world a s mall village.
TOPIC 5: GOVERNMENT
Government refers to the group of people governing the s tate according to the given cons titution.
S tate refers to the s ys tem which makes and enforces decis ions for the s ociety. It includes the
government, civil s ervice, the army and the judicial s ys tem.
A cons titution is a legal document that des cribes how the country s hould be governed.

Functions and duties of the s tate
1. Promoting welfare and development of all people by implementing policies and laws that
achieve a number of goals .
2. To obtain equality for women through full participation of women in all matters in the
s ociety.
3. To achieve adequate nutrition for all in order to promote good health and s elf s ufficiency.
4. To provide adequate health care to s uit with health needs of all people in the s ociety and
international s tandards of health.
5. To ens ure that the environment is managed properly.
6. To provide adequate res ources to the education s ector in order to eliminate illiteracy.
7. To make agreements and treaties with other nation-s tates on behalf of its people.
8. To promote economic development of its people s o that there is a balance of the
dis tribution of wealth.
9. Introduce meas ures which will guarantee accountability, trans parency, pers onal hones ty
and financial probity(total hones ty) in order to promote public trus t and good governance.
The pres ident
This is the head of s tate normally chos en by the people to s erve for a period of time. However,
s ome nation-s tates are headed by queens or kings like the United Kingdom are headed by Queen
Elizabeth and S waziland is headed by King Ns wati.
The role of the pres ident
1. Head of s tate and government which means he provides executive leaders hip to the
country.
2. Commander-in-chief of the armed forces like in Malawi the armed forces include the
Malawi Army, the Malawi Police S ervice and the Malawi Pris on.
3. Repres entative of people becaus e when heads of other s tates and other foreign
dignitaries vis it the country, they call on him. In addition, he repres ents the country when
he vis its other countries and at important meetings .
4. Power to pardon thos e who have been convicted by the courts . He can order their
immediate releas e or their s entences s hould be reduced.
5. Honours brave and hardworking people e.g. in Malawi, people receive the Dis tinguis hed
S ervice Medal becaus e they offered a dis tinguis hed s ervice to the country.
6. To s ign bills into law.
7. To give an opening and clos ing s peech of each s es s ion of the national as s embly.
8. To appoint cabinet minis ters
9. To appoint ambas s adors to other countries and receive ambas s adors from other
countries .
The defence forces
They include the army and other ins titutions like the navy and the police. The defence forces of
Malawi cons is t of the Malawi Army.
Roles of the defence forces
1. To uphold the s overeignty and territorial integrity of its country.
2. To guard agains t threats to the s afety of its citizens by force of arms .
3. To provide technical expertis e and res ources in the maintenance of important s ervices in
times of emergency like natural dis as ters .
4. To s earch and res cue air operations .
5. To provide executive air trans port s ervice.

6. To provide air ambulance s ervice.
S ys tems of government
1. The unitary s ys tem
This is when the central government is given s uperior power over regional or local
governments . The central government can delegate s ome authority to the regional
government. Examples of this government are found in Malawi, S outh Africa and Kenya.
2. The federal s ys tem
This is when both the central and regional governments are s upreme regarding s ome
powers .
Mos t federal governments are compos ed of different s tates which make up one nation
and each s tate(region) holds s ome regional powers . For ins tance, a region can be given
the power to make policies regarding taxes , s chools , hos pital s ervices and other local
s ervices in its area. An example of a federal s ys tem is found in India.
3. A confederation
This is a s ys tem of government whereby s eparate independent nation-s tates are linked
together to cooperate in certain ways like the European Union.
4. A republic
This is a s ys tem of government in which there is an elected pres ident but no king or
queen like Malawi, Kenya and US A.
5. Monarchy
This is a s ys tem of government that has a s upreme ruler s uch as a king or queen e.g.
S waziland.
Election
It is a proces s for choos ing officers .
Its function is to decide the contes t where two or more candidates compete and it is a formal
procedure of filling public offices .
Types of elections
1. General elections – elections held throughout the country to make a final choice for all
public offices to be filled at that time. In Malawi, they are held every five years to choos e a
pres ident and members of parliament.
2. Primary elections – a method by which a political party choos es its nominees for public
office. Thes e are held before general elections s o that voters are involved in the s election
of party candidates . In Malawi, mos t political parties limit primary elections to the
regis tered party members .
3. Run-off elections – it is held where no candidate wins a clear majority in a general
election. Thes e are normally between two candidates who had mos t votes .
4. By-elections – thes e are held where a public office is vacated through death, retirement,
res ignation or when the holder of the public office has joined another political party.
5. Local elections – thes e are conducted when people want to fill local level offices like local
government offices (choos ing of councillors ). Local government elections are conducted
every five years in Malawi.
6. A referendum – an election in which an is s ue is s ubmitted directly to a popular vote e.g.
in Malawi it was held in 1993 to decide whether the country s hould have a multi-party
s ys tem of government or continue with the one party s ys tem.
7. Direct elections – each member of the electorate votes directly for the candidate of his or
her choice e.g. general and local elections in Malawi.

8. Indirect election – thes e are decided by vote of a s pecial electoral body whos e members
are directly elected. This is done to limit a popular rule. For example, in US A, they us e an
indirect election to choos e the pres ident. They us e a s pecial electoral college (a collective
name for a group of electors nominated by political parties within the s tates ) who meet to
vote for pres ident and vice pres ident.
Other terms as s ociated with elections
1. A ballot paper is the piece of paper of us ed by the voter in choos ing his or her preferred
candidate.
2. An election officer is the pers on who works for the Electoral Commis s ion and include
regis tration officers and polling s tation officers .
3. A candidate is a pers on who wis hes to repres ent the cons tituency or ward.
4. A ballot box is the box into which ballot papers are put.
5. An independent candidate is the one who is not s pons ored by a political party.
6. A polling s tation is the place where people go to cas t their votes .
7. Regis tration refers to a proces s by which a pers on’s name is added to the voter’s regis ter.
8. A cons tituency is a geographical area which has been determined by the Electoral
Commis s ion and which will be repres ented in the National As s embly by one Member of
Parliament.
The electoral proces s
The electoral s ys tem has different components namely:
1. Dis tricting – a proces s by which exact geographical boundaries of cons tituencies or
wards are es tablis hed. This proces s depends on the population dens ity of an area, the
geographical pos ition of an area, eas y communication and the wis hes of people. In
Malawi, ward boundaries do not cros s local authority boundaries .
2. Regis tration – identification of an eligible voter. A pers on is only allowed to regis ter once
in the area he/ s he res ides or was born or is employed or carries on his bus ines s . During
the regis tration, a pers on is is s ued a voter’s regis tration certificate. A period of
regis tration of voters is determined by the electoral commis s ion and in Malawi, the period
is between 14 – 21 days and thos e allowed to regis ter s hould be 18 years and above. The
pers on s hould attain the age of 18 years on or before the polling day.
3. Qualifying for office and nomination of candidates – thes e are requirements for
candidates and include age, res idence, citizens hip and term limits .
In Malawi, a pers on qualifies as a candidate for the pos ition of councillor, Member of
Parliament and pres ident if:
a. He is a res ident of Malawi and does not have a foreign origin.
b. He has reached the age of 21 years .
c. He is able to s peak and read Englis h and is a regis tered voter.
d. He has never been convicted by a competent court within the las t s even years .
e. He does not belong to the Defence Forces of Malawi, the Malawi Police S ervice or
in the Malawi Pris on S ervice.
Candidates are nominated at party conventions , individual cons tituencies or by national
party leaders or can s tand as independent candidates .
In Malawi, the electoral commis s ion appoints a returning officer who receives the
nominations of candidates . Nominations in Malawi are required to be made by at leas t ten
regis tered voters in the cons tituency or ward in which a pers on would like to be a
candidate and each voter s hould s ign on the nomination paper.

4. Campaigning – it is done to publicize the election in order to have a heavy turn out. It is
als o done to appeal to the electorate to vote for a candidate. Campaigns are done us ing
rallies or s ocial gatherings , the media and door to door campaigns . Others us e opinion
polls (private polls to know how popular they are). Campaign is prohibited at military units ,
police s tations , public ins titutions and educational ins titutions during normal working
hours .
5. S etting up of polling s tations – es tablis hing polling s tations throughout the area where
the elections are to be held. Voting booths (a place for making the choice for a candidate
by a voter) are es tablis hed at every polling s tation. Political parties are allowed to monitor
the voting proces s and are s uppos ed to ins pect the ballot boxes and polling s tations
before the beginning of the cas ting of votes .
6. The vote and voting proces s – voters us e ballot papers to vote and they exercis e the right
to vote at a polling s tation located at the regis tration centre where they regis tered. If this
is not pos s ible, alternative arrangements have to be made. Polling day begins at 6 O’clock
in the morning and clos es at 6 O’clock in the evening in Malawi.
7. Tabulating, reporting and certifying res ults – in many countries , votes are counted by
election officials at various polling s tations often in the pres ence of authorized party
workers . Election res ults and winners are often certified by public officials . Where there is
no majority winner, another election mus t be held within a s pecified period. The Electoral
Commis s ion of Malawi is the body that certifies res ults .
8. International obs ervations – verification of various s tages by international organizations ,
foreign governments and people and help to:
a. Verify and monitor regis tration of voters .
b. Obs erve the campaigning proces s .
c. Verify and monitor the voting proces s
d. Verify and monitor res ults of the election
e. Obs erve acces s and us e of the media.
9. Complaints and appeals – any complaint s ubmitted in writing s hall be examined and
decided on by the commis s ion and if it is confirmed, the commis s ion s hall take any
neces s ary action. An appeal s hall lie to the high court agains t a decis ion of the
commis s ion. This court makes a decis ion to confirm or reject the irregularity.
The Electoral Commis s ion of Malawi
The firs t commis s ion was es tablis hed in 1993 to look after the election is s ues in Malawi which
was dis s olved in 1998. A s econd one was appointed in 1998. Members of the commis s ion are
called commis s ioners and are appointed by the pres ident after cons ulting political parties
repres ented in the national as s embly. It has a chairpers on who is nominated by the J udicial
S ervice Commis s ion and other commis s ioners who are not les s than s ix.
Functions and duties of the commis s ion
1. Demarcating cons tituencies and wards in which it s upervis es the demarcation of
boundaries .
2. Regis tration of voters by devis ing and es tablis hing voter regis ters as well as looking at
the eligibility of the voters in terms of age and citizens hip.
3. Receiving nomination of candidates who wis h to contes t in an election. The nominations
are received by the returning officer who advis es the nominated candidate of any
problems in the nomination paper.
4. Monitoring campaign news and broadcas ts to ens ure equal news coverage of

campaigning by all candidates .
5. Es tablis hing and operating polling s tations as well as appointing polling s tation officers
to s upervis e proceedings at the polling s tation.
6. Print, dis tribute and take charge of ballot papers and to approve as well as buy ballot
boxes .
7. Determining res ults by declaring the winner of the election.
8. Es tablis hing s ecurity conditions neces s ary for the conduct of every election.
9. Promote public awarenes s of electoral matters through the media and other means .
Role of voters
1. To give accurate information during regis tration.
2. To regis ter in one area only.
3. They s hould not incite violence during an election.
The Central Government
It is compos ed of three branches namely:
1. The Legis lative Body or the Legis lature – it cons is ts of the pres ident and members of
parliament.
It has the following function:
a. Makes laws of the country
b. Approves annual government expenditure before it is implemented.
c. Debates matters of national importance e.g. poverty alleviation and accountability
of government.
d. Examines government actions on behalf of citizens .
2. The Executive – it is compos ed of the pres ident as the head and cabinet minis ters .
It has the following functions :
a. Initiation of policies (government plans ) and implementation of all laws of the
country.
b. Makes treaties on behalf of Malawians .
c. Provides various s ervices e.g. s ecurity through the minis try of defence, education
through the minis try of education and health through the minis try of health.
3. The J udiciary – it is compos ed of law courts , the chief jus tice, judges of the s upreme
court of appeal, high court judges , the regis trar of the high court and magis trates .
It interprets and applies laws of the nation and makes s ure that laws are obeyed.
Types of courts include:
a. The S upreme Court – this is the highes t in the country and in Malawi it is called the
S upreme Court of Appeal. It is compos ed of three high court judges none of whom
took part in the cas e appealed agains t.
b. The High Court – s econd highes t court and in Malawi it is called the High Court of
Malawi. It cons is ts of the Chief J us tice and other jus tices not les s than two. It
decides on cas es brought to it and als o hears appeals from lower courts called
magis trates .
c. The s ubordinate courts – thes e are below the High Court and include magis trate
courts and indus trial relations courts (deals with labour dis putes and is s ues related
to employment).
S ources of revenue for central government
1. Income tax from individuals and companies e.g. Pay As You Earn(PAYE).
2. Cus toms and excis e duty which is money paid for imported goods .

3. Licences and duties which are money paid when a pers on wants to obtain a driving
licence as well as death duties (paid on property left by a deceas ed pers on).
4. Rents paid by civil s ervants who occupy government hous es .
5. Mis cellaneous departmental receipts which include s heriff fees , payment of appealed
cas es and others .
6. Loans from banks and other lending ins titutions from home or abroad.
7. Donor aid from other countries and international organizations .
8. Commercial activities through owning companies , privatization or s hares in different
countries .
Local government
It is when power, authority and res pons ibilities of the central government are trans ferred to lower
and more local levels for decis ion making. This trans fer of power from the central government to
local government is called decentralis ation.
Local government ins titutions
1. Dis trict as s emblies e.g. Ntchis i, Chitipa and Ns anje.
2. Town as s emblies e.g. Karonga, Liwonde and Dedza.
3. Municipal as s emblies e.g. Kas ungu.
4. City as s emblies e.g. Blantyre, Lilongwe and Mzuzu.
S ome dis tricts have both a dis trict and a city as s embly while others have both dis trict and
municipal as s emblies but each as s embly is independent.
Compos ition of an as s embly
1. Councillors who are elected in wards and are voting members on local government is s ues .
2. Traditional Authorities and S ub Traditional Authorities who are non-voting members .
3. Members of parliament that fall within the local government area as non-voting members .
4. Five people as non-voting members to look into the interes ts of s ome groups e.g. women,
the youth and the phys ically challenged.
5. The Chief Executive who is a non-voting member.
As s embly members appoint the chairpers on and the vice chairpers on on their firs t meeting who
s erve for five years . The chairpers on and the vice chairpers on of the city and municipal
as s emblies are called the mayor and deputy mayor res pectively. The as s embly has s everal
committees s uch as finance, development, education, health and s anitation, appointments and
dis ciplinary.
Functions of local as s emblies
1. Promoting public health through the provis ion of clean and health environment by
ins pecting food, drinks , refus e, pes ts and s treets .
2. Providing clinical health s ervices by managing clinics , health centres and dis pens aries as
well as providing health education s ervices .
3. Environmental management by looking after fores try res erves , tree nurs eries , lands capes ,
zoos and dams .
4. Promoting economic development through town planning, bus ines s licens ing and
managing markets and market buildings .
5. Education through provis ion of public s chools , s chool burs aries and libraries .
6. Providing for roads and s treets by cons tructing and maintaining them.
7. Emergency s ervices by maintaining and managing ambulance and fire s ervices .
8. Providing public amenities which include parks , recreational grounds , botanical gardens ,
mus eums , his torical, cultural and s cientific places .

S ources of revenue of local authorities (governments )
1. Government grants from the central government.
2. Produce ces s (tax paid by thos e who s ell their produce at local as s embly markets )
3. Licences from thos e who operate bus ines s es e.g. bottle s tores .
4. Occupation licences and rents through owners hip of buildings , s hops and land.
5. Rates paid by owners of buildings , plots in municipalities and towns .
6. Fees collected from people who us e mus eums and car parking areas .
7. S ervice charges for emptying s eptic tanks , fire and ambulance s ervices .
8. Profit and interes t from bus ines s es s uch as res taurants and res t hous es .
9. Loans from the banks and central government.
S tatutory corporations
Thes e are s tate enterpris es or paras tatals by an act of parliament e.g. Agricultural Development
and Marketing Corporation (ADMARC), Blantyre Water Board, Malawi Ins titute of Education and
Malawi Development Corporation.
Functions of s ome s tatutory corporations
1. Electricity S upply Commis s ion of Malawi
a. Building and maintaining power plants .
b. Dis tributing and s upplying electricity.
c. Inves tigating new or additional facilities for s upplying electricity.
2. Malawi Development Corporation
a. To develop agricultural, commercial, indus trial and mineral res ources .
b. To formulate projects for the promotion or expans ion of new or exis ting
enterpris es .
c. To train citizens of Malawi how to manage and expand a project.
d. To provide loans .
e. To inves t money in various enterpris es .
3. Export Promotion Council
a. To promote the export of agricultural products .
b. To make available exporters information and s tatis tics on the exporters market.
c. Organize and operate trade fairs organized abroad.
d. Arrange for repres entation by exhibitors at trade fairs organized abroad.
4. S mall Holder S ugar Authority, S mall Holder Coffee Authority and S mall Holder Tea
Authority
a. Promote s ugar, coffee and tea s chemes .
b. To control and s upervis e the growing of tea, coffee and s ugar.
c. To provide training for the growers .
d. To organize trans port for collection of crops for marketing.
e. To give credit and recover money by deducting from goods s ales .
5. Malawi National Library S ervice
a. To promote, es tablis h, equip, manage and maintain libraries in Malawi
S ources of revenue for s tatutory corporations
1. Loans from ins titutions and organizations within and outs ide Malawi.
2. Bills and s ubs criptions paid by cus tomers and clients .
3. Government grants and donations from international ins titutions
4. Rents and royalties from the s ale of their properties .

5. Interes ts from bank accounts
Good governance
This is the exercis e of political, economic and adminis trative authority effectively, efficiently and
fairly.
Principles of good governance
1. Accountability – it means that politicians s hould be able to explain and jus tify their
actions and decis ions to the citizens of their country. This is important when it comes to
financial dealings s ince people have every right to know how money is s pent.
2. Trans parency – this means that government bus ines s s hould be conducted openly. The
government s hould open government records for ins pections and als o explain its
decis ions in matters of national importance.
3. Participation – this means public participation in decis ion making directly or indirectly
through members of parliament.
4. Rule of law – this means that nobody is above the law s o everyone mus t be given equal
punis hment for equal offences regardles s of their s tatus .
5. S eparation of powers – it means that the three branches of government s hould have
s eparate functions .
Ins titutions that promote good governance
1. The Legis lature – it promotes the rule of law by ens uring that laws are fair.
2. The J udiciary – it interprets , protects and enforces all laws of the country in an
independent and impartial manner.
3. The Electoral Commis s ion – ens ures independent and trans parent elections of people to
public offices .
4. Audit offices – pres ent financial s tatements of different departments and companies
independently to the management or board of directors .
5. Human rights organizations make s ure that national laws and internationally recognized
conventions are upheld.
6. The office of the ombuds man – helps to promote the rule of law by inves tigating cas es of
injus tice.
7. The Anti-Corruption Bureau – helps to promote the rule of law by inves tigating corruption
cas es and als o promotes accountability.
8. Civil s ociety organizations provide checks and balances on government power and als o
monitor s ocial abus es .
9. The media promotes trans parency and accountability by informing the public government
actions and decis ions .
TOPIC 6: HUMAN RIGHTS

S pecial groups
Thes e are people who s hare certain characteris tics which are biological, s ocial and others .
Thes e are cons idered as s pecial groups becaus e the nature of their characteris tics requires
s pecial cons ideration which they would be denied if they were treated along with other groups of
people.
People can be identified as belonging to a s pecial group by looking at the following:
 Biological make-up
 Legal s tatus as citizens e.g. pris oners

 S ocial s tatus s uch as the dis abled
 Geographical location s uch as refugees
 Culture s uch as people who belong to a particular ethnic or racial group
 Profes s ional s uch as migrant worker
Types of s pecial groups
1. Women and girls – they are cons idered as a s pecial group becaus e of different bias es
that are bas ed on s ocial expectations of their roles , s tatus and their exis tence. They face
the following abus es :
a. Domes tic violence which can be phys ically or s exually e.g. beatings and rape.
b. Forced early marriages es pecially girls that live in rural areas due to poverty and
traditions .
c. Inability to acquire or retain property becaus e of traditions . However, Malawians
are not facing a lot of problems due to the Wills and Inheritance Act.
d. S exual haras s ment in the work place and s chool in form of jokes , teas ing, rape on
the way to and from s chool and others .
e. Inequality in economic opportunities becaus e the s ociety views males as capable.
f.
Inadequate education becaus e s ome s ocieties do not cons ider the girl child or a
woman as s omeone who needs the s ame education as a boy or a man.
2. Children – the United Nations Covenant on the Rights of the Child (CRC) defines a child as
s omeone who is below the age of 18 while the Malawian Cons titution recognizes any
pers on under the age of 16 years as a child. Children are cons idered as a s pecial group
becaus e they are dependent, have low level of phys ical, emotional and s ocial maturity
which might lead to different abus es by adults .
S ome of the forms of abus es faced by a child include:
a. S exual exploitation becaus e adults entice children with money and other economic
opportunities to have s ex with them.
b. Child labour by working in hazardous environment and being given tas ks not
matching their age.
c. Victims of divorce and orphanage due to the s eparation and death of parents that
make them to be helples s .
d. They are not allowed to make decis ions in s ome s ocieties due to their age and
maturity.
3. Dis abled people – they face the following abus es :
a. Inequality in employment opportunities becaus e mos t employers view dis abled
people as economically unproductive, ris ky and offering non-competitive s kills .
b. Inequality in education becaus e they are perceived as academically incompetent.
c. Incapable of getting married becaus e of their biological characteris tics .
d. Bias ed priorities in a number of s ituations e.g. during wars , they might be
evacuated after the normal people have been evacuated.
4. Refugees – they face the following abus es :
a. Forced labour where they are employed and receive payment not matching their
s kills .
b. Forced marriages in order to be accepted into the hos t country.
c. Forced nationalities in order to conceal their nationality for the gain of the hos t

citizen involved.
d. Forced allegiances (loyalty) es pecially in war s ituation in order to be protected from
various abus es .
e. Poor education and healthcare s ervices s ince the hos ts view refugees as
temporary res idents hence s hould not receive adequate education and healthcare.
5. Pris oners or accus ed people – they are expos ed to the following forms of abus e:
a. S tarvation which is failing to be provided with enough and nutritious food.
b. Poor health facilities as a way of punis hing pris oners .
c. No contact with relatives and legal s ervices (lawyers ) becaus e they are viewed as
les s human.
d. S exual abus e by fellow inmates and pris on/ police officers .
6. Workers – they face the following abus es :
a. Low wages where they get money which is not matching their s kills .
b. Hazardous work environments es pecially thos e working in the manufacturing
indus try.
c. Lack of legal mechanis ms to repres ent workers ’ rights s uch as being prohibited to
join unions or as s ociations fearing arrogance, low productivity and a higher wage
bill.
d. Unfair dis mis s al which make the workers not to get any terminal benefits .
Violations of rights of s pecial groups
1. Genocide – this is the deliberate killing a large group of people. This is us ually directed
agains t the minority groups e.g. genocide of the J ews in Nazi occupied Germany in 1930s
and 1940s , killings of one million educated city dwellers by the Khmer Rouge region in
Cambodia in the 1970s as well as killing of about one million Tuts is by the Hutu in
Rwanda in 1994.
2. Child Labour – this is when a child has to work either full-time or part-time but do not go
s chools . It is es timated that over 100 million children between the age of 10 and 14 work
full-time or part-time with mos t of them working in As ia e.g. children in China work for 17
hours to produce toys for the American owned McDonalds .
3. Dis crimination – until the late 1960s there was frequent dis crimination agains t black
people in the United S tates of America es pecially in the s outhern s tates .
4. Forced pros titution – this is when girls are enticed into the cities and forced to become
pros titutes . The girls are collected by international criminal s yndicates (group of people
that work together to achieve a certain goal). Forced pros titution is common in As ia
where it is es timated that over one million children are involved in the s ex trade. The
s yndicates als o work in Eas tern Europe and Africa who s end the girls to Wes tern Europe
to work as pros titutes . In addition, there are over 300,000 child pros titutes in the s treets of
United S tates of America.
5. Torture of pris oners – this is common in many countries and take many forms s uch as
beatings , electric s hocks , whipping, depriving the pris oner of s leep and food, s us pens ion
by the wris ts or ankles , death threats and threats of rape. Torture is commonly done to
women, young people and the elderly. It is common in Egyptian police s tations and
detention centres .
6. S lavery – it was common three hundred years ago when many Africans were taken as
s laves to work in the is lands of Caribbean and plantations of North America. It is
es timated that 27 million people in the world today are forced to work but are not paid or

get low wages . This is the form of s lavery. Modern s lavery is done through bonded labour.
It happens when a pers on takes out a loan like a bottle of medicine and pays off the loan
by being forced to work for a long time. They receive food and s helter but not payment.
7. Female genital mutilation or female circumcis ion – it involves the partial or total removal
of external female organs . It may be performed at any age but mos t victims are
adoles cents . It is done to reduce s exual pleas ure, to encourage girls to be faithful to their
hus bands , to mark the trans ition to womanhood and to increas e fertility. It is
dis advantageous becaus e it affects their ability to have their mental health and als o
s erious ly damages the female s exual organs . It is common in Africa
Types of human rights
1. Civil and political rights – thes e are aimed at s afeguarding civil and political participation
for everyone. They are als o called firs t generation of human rights becaus e the earlies t
exis ting rights documents contained mos tly s uch rights .
Examples include:
 The right to a nationality
 The right to privacy
 Freedom of thought
 Freedom of expres s ion
 Freedom of as s ociation
 The right to information
 The right not to be deprived of liberty
2. Economic, s ocial and cultural rights – they emphas ize s ocio-economic and cultural
development as well as s ecurity of every pers on. They are als o called s econd generation
of human rights becaus e they came into effect after the civil and political rights .
Examples include:
 The right to adequate s tandard of living
 The right to enjoy ones culture
 The right to the minimum fair wage
 The right to enjoy the highes t attainable s tandard of health
 The right to enjoy the benefits of s cientific progres s and its applications .
3. S olidarity or interdependence human rights – thes e are aimed at fos tering cooperation
and helping each other. They are als o called third generation of human rights becaus e
they came into effect after the other two groups .
Examples include:
 The right to form and join trade unions for the protection of interes ts
 The right to s trike or engage in peaceful demons tration
 The right of trade unions to es tablis h national federations and to join international
trade unions
 The right of trade unions to function freely
International legal ins truments for promoting and protecting s pecial groups ’ human rights
1. A Treaty – an international agreement between two or more governments e.g. The
S outhern African Development Community (S ADC) and The North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO).
2. A Convention – a treaty intended to bind and be obs erved by many countries e.g. The
United Nations ’ International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights .
3. A Protocol- an additional agreement intended to be part of a treaty that is already in force
e.g. Additional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights .
4. A Declaration – a s et of principles declared as des ired s tandards for s tates and other
parties but not intended to be binding e.g. the Declaration on the Rights of the Child.
5. A Recommendation – a s et of s tandards s ugges ted to be followed by s tates in order to
realize agreed s tandards or thos e in convention e.g. the International Labour
Organization’s (ILO) Recommendation no. 19 on the Termination of Employment.
International interventions to protect human rights of s pecial groups
1. The Convention on the Rights of a Child (CRC) – it was adopted by the General As s embly
of the United Nations on 20th November, 1989 and recognizes any pers on under the age of
18 as a child. S ome of the s pecial human rights in the CRC include:
 The right to a name
 The right to a nationality
 The right to know and be rais ed by parents
 The right to receive reas onable maintenance by parents
 The right to be protected from exploitation and from treatment or punis hment that
may: be hazardous , interfere with the child’s education and be harmful to the child’s
health or to his phys ical, mental and s piritual development.
2. Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Dis crimination Agains t Women (CEDAW)- it
was adopted and ratified by the General As s embly in December, 1979. It went into force
on 3rd S eptember, 1981.
CEDAWincludes the following rights :
 The right to marriage
 The right to regulate fertility
 The right to inheritance of property
 The right to equal employment and pay
 The right to have acces s to equal economic opportunities
 The right to be protected from all forms of abus e, cruelty, dis crimination and
exploitation.
3. Forum for African Women Educationalis ts (FAWE) – it was s et up in 1992. It cons is ts of
influential women policy-makers in African countries e.g. minis ters of education,
univers ity vice chancellors and s enior policy-makers . It is aimed at improving girls ’
participation in education. Mos t countries have national chapters of FAWE.
Ins titutions or meas ures that deal with human rights for s pecial groups
1. International level
a. Amnes ty International – an independent international human rights watchdog
aimed at inves tigating and reporting human rights violations . It has both regional
and local repres entatives from all member countries .
b. International Red Cros s – it helps people s uffering due to war, floods , outbreaks of
dis eas es and others . In Mus lim countries where the importance of the cros s is not
recognized, it is called the International Red Cres cent.
c. International Court of J us tice – one of the organs of the United Nations aimed at
trying out international human rights violations . It deals with cas es s uch as border
dis putes , occupation of another’s territory and international criminals . It is located
in the Hague, Netherlands and has repres entatives from all members of the United

Nations .
d. S pecial tribunals or s pecial law courts – s ince its es tablis hment, the United Nations
S ecurity Council has es tablis hed various s pecial tribunals to deal with s us pected
violations of the four 1949 Geneva conventions . Examples of the s pecial tribunals
include:
i. The International criminal tribunal for the former Yugos lavia which was
es tablis hed in February, 1993. It was es tablis hed to deal with violations
committed in the former Yugos lavia s ince 1991 and include genocide.
ii. The international tribunal agains t the 1991 Rwandan genocide which was
s et up in 1998. It was es tablis hed to hunt down, capture and try perpetrators
of the Rwandan genocide. It is bas ed in Arus ha, Tanzania.
iii. The S outh African Truth and Reconciliation Commis s ion which was s et up
s oon after the end of apartheid (Political s ys tem that exis ted in S outh Africa
in which white people had more political rights and power than the blacks ) in
1993. It was es tablis hed to hear cas es of human rights violations during the
apartheid era. Its main objective was to es tablis h reconciliation between the
blacks and the whites .
e. Human Rights Watch – it is bas ed in New York in the United S tates of America. It
was formed in 1988 from merging two previous organizations namely: Hels inki
Watch which was s et up to monitor abus es in the Old S oviet Union and Americas
Watch which was s et up to monitor abus es in Central America. S ome of the work of
HRWinclude:
i. Calling for a treaty to ban the us e of child s oldiers .
ii. Campaigning agains t the us e of landmines in the 1990s .
iii. Campaigned for former Yugos lavia leaders to be tried for war crimes in an
international court.
f.
United Nations High Commis s ion for Refugees (UNHCR) – it was s et up in 1951 by
the General As s embly of the United Nations to take a variety of actions to help the
refugees .
2. Local level
a. The Law Commis s ion
b. The Ombuds man
c. Anti-Corruption Bureau
d. Human Rights Organizations
e. The Malawi Human Rights Res ource Centre
TOPIC 7: CONFLICT RES OLUTION

A conflict is a dis agreement between individuals or groups of people over a point.
International conflicts are dis agreements between countries or within countries but require
intervention of the international community.
Caus es of international conflicts
1. Religious differences which are dis agreements between two religious groups . Major
conflict on religion is currently between Mus lims and Chris tians all over the world and
another one is in the Middle Eas t between the Is raelis and the Pales tinians where one

group claims s overeignty over J erus alem.
2. Ethnic differences caus ed by the need of one group to be s uperior over the other e.g. in
Rwanda between the Hutus and Tuts is .
3. Political differences done between two political parties us ually the oppos ition and the
ruling party e.g. in Zimbabwe between ZANU-PF and the Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC).
4. Cultural differences are due to different cultural backgrounds e.g. in Africa where the
Africans rejected the impos ition of Wes tern European cultural traditions on them.
5. Individual lus t for power where people need to accumulate wealth and power for
thems elves .
6. Boundaries caus e conflicts where one country occupies the territory of the other e.g. in
Africa between Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Effects of international conflict on development
1. Migration of people which is dis placement of people due to civil wars in their country.
2. Famine becaus e a country at war does not have enough time to concentrate on
development activities like agriculture.
3. Low indus trial development1 s ince the government’s priority is on the importation of arms
rather than manufacturing es s ential goods .
4. Low literacy rates es pecially to the refugees who are only provided with bas ic education
by international human rights agencies .
5. Creation of a violent s ociety becaus e youths brought up in conflict areas know nothing
apart from a violent s ociety.
6. Widowhood and orphanage due to the death of people either as s oldiers or civilians .
7. Limitation of human rights s ince countries experiencing conflicts pay les s attention to
human rights .
8. Des truction of property.
9. Deaths of people.
Conflict res olution
This is when the two conflicting parties reconcile through peaceful means or intervention by the
third party.
The main s trategy for res olving international conflicts is by peaceful negotiation which follows
principles of contact and dialogue.
Other s trategies include us e of advocates , us e of courts , arbitrators (us e of a third party), us e of
s anctions (embargo) and us e of peace keeping forces .
International organs for dealing with international conflicts
1. The United Nations Organization through its s pecial organ called the S ecurity Council.
2. League of Nations compos ed of 63 countries when it was formed in 1920.
3. International court of J us tice with its headquarters at the Hague, Netherlands .
4. S pecial tribunals
Regional organs that as s is t in conflict res olution
1. S outhern African Development Community(S ADC) which addres s es problems within
S outhern Africa.
2. Economic Community of Wes t African S tates (ECOWAS ) which addres s es economic
is s ues in the region.
3. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) which res ponds to military conflicts within the
region.

4. The European Union (EU) looks at economic is s ues in Wes tern Europe.
5. The North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which is a grouping of the US A,
Canada and Mexico to addres s trade and economic is s ues .
International peace initiatives
1. The Treaty of Vers ailles and the League of Nations – it was held in Paris . Germany and
other defeated nations were not allowed to s it at the conference while Britain, France,
Italy and the United S tates dominated the conference. Hars h terms were impos ed on
Germany s uch as giving up s ome of its territories and getting rid of its weapons . During
the S econd World War, leaders of the country that were fighting Germany and J apan
agreed to es tablis h a new international peace keeping organization to replace the
League of Nations .
2. Peace initiatives in the Middle Eas t – the firs t one was held in 1978 when the United
S tates took the lead to end conflict. Leaders of Is rael and Egypt s igned the Camp David
Accord which was an important s tep towards peace when Egypt recognized Is rael as a
country for the firs t time. The other s tep taken towards peace in the Middle Eas t was in
1993 when Is rael and the Pales tinian Liberation Organization (PLO) s igned the
Declaration of Principles in which they recognized each other’s right to exis t.
3. A peace initiative in the DRC – war broke out in 1998 and involved s even African
countries . In 1999, the UN pres s urized the warring s ides to have a ceas e fire and s igned
the Lus aka Peace Accord which aimed to end war permanently.
Effectivenes s of the peace initiatives
Thes e are not us ually s ucces s ful. For ins tance, after the Lus aka Peace Accord in 1999, the
ceas e fire was broken many times . In addition, organizations like the UN’s s anctions on
conflicting s ides do not have required effect.
International organizations have been more s ucces s ful in their peace initiatives in the former
Yugos lavia that have prevented further conflicts .
Refugee cris is in Africa and the world
1. Angola – the government was fighting a rebel group called UNITA s ince 1975. Many
people became refugees in Zambia, Tanzania, Namibia, S outh Africa, Portugal and
Zimbabwe.
2. Democratic Republic of Congo – the conflict was between the government and the rebels .
Other countries were involved s uch as Uganda and Rwanda that s upported rebels while
Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia s upported the government. People from DRC fled to the
Great Lakes Region involving Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi and Central African
Republic.
3. S omalia – there was no central government s ince 1979 s o life was dis organized with
different factions controlling res ources . Many S omalis have fled to Kenya, Eritrea,
Ethiopia, Tanzania and Wes tern Europe.
4. S udan – S udan People’s Liberation Army (S PLA) has been fighting for independence of
S outhern S udan from government rule for over thirty years . Refugees are concentrated in
Uganda, Ethiopia, Chad and Central African Republic.
5. S ierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea – Revolutionary United Front (RUF), a rebel movement
has been in conflict with current government in S ierra Leone to replace it. Liberia is
fighting rebels from S ierra Leone and Guinea while Guinea is fighting rebels coming from
Liberia. Refugees are concentrated in Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia and S enegal.
6. S ri Lanka – Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eeelam (LTTE) als o known as Tamil Tigers have

been fighting s ince 1983 for the independence of the minority Tamil s tate in NE S ri Lanka.
Refugees are concentrated in India, Pakis tan and Malays ia.
7. Yugos lavia – civil conflicts involve acts of genocide with refugees concentrated in Czech
Republic, Germany, Rus s ia and Central Europe.
8. Afghanis tan – Fighting is between Taliban forces and the Northern Alliance fighters
leading to two million refugees in Pakis tan.
9. Middle Eas t – It is between Is raelis and Pales tinians with Pales tinian refugees
concentrated in Lebanon, S yria, J ordan and Wes tern countries .
Impact of refugees in the world
1. Dis integration of families s ince people may leave their families behind or may los e family
members .
2. Pres s ure on land res ources for s ettlement, building and other s ocial facilities .
3. Pres s ure on s ocial s ervices s ince refugees need medical attention, education, markets
which may be inadequate.
4. Pres s ure on food res ources becaus e the s upplied food may not be adequate to meet the
refugees daily needs .
5. Los s of cultural identity becaus e the refugees are far from their original homes s o they
can not eat their traditional food, can not conduct certain traditions and rituals .
6. Cros s -border criminal activities becaus e thos e fleeing their countries may carry a lot of
arms which may be us ed for committing armed robberies in the hos t country. Other
criminal activities include drug trafficking, s muggling of food, s ugar and fuel.
7. Los s of human res ources becaus e refugees who flee their country could contribute
pos itively to the development of the nation.
8. Infectious dis eas es becaus e refugees may carry with them infectious dis eas es s uch as
malaria, tuberculos is , cholera, Ebola and HIV/ AIDS .
Conventions for the protection of s pecial groups
1. The 1929 Geneva Convention on the treatment of Pris oners of War s igned by 47 nations .
Pris oners of war are protected in the following ways :
a. Not to be tortured to reveal their identity other than military rank and number.
b. Entitled to adequate food and medical care.
c. To receive letters and parcels
d. Camps to be open for ins pection
2. The 1949 Convention ratified by many countries which laid down humane treatment of
pris oners during war and s tres s ed that they s hould be freed as s oon as war ended and
allowed to return to their countries .
3. The Refugee Convention drawn up in 1951 and gave refugees the following rights :
a. Right not to be forcibly returned to their country where the refugee has fear of
pers ecution.
b. Right to work
c. Right to education
d. Right to public relief and as s is tance
e. Freedom of religion
f.
Free acces s to courts
g. Freedom of movement
h. Right to be is s ued identity and travel documents

Challenges faced in implementation of conventions
1. S hortage of res ources s uch as financial, human and material.
2. Lack of cooperation from governments s ince s ome government officials may react
negatively to reports of human rights violations and deny that s uch acts exis t.
3. Corruption s ince the violators may pay huge s ums of money to organs that deal with
human rights s o that they are protected.
4. S ocial attitudes make the s ociety view s ome s pecial groups with a negative attitude. For
ins tance, the dis abled may be viewed as the condemned, pris oners viewed as beas ts
therefore, do not need a s pecial attention.
5. Lack of civic education on the rights of s pecial groups and other members of the s ociety.
TOPIC 8: S OCIAL J US TICE

S ocial jus tice is when everyone in the s ociety is treated fairly and their rights are res pected by
ins titutions s uch as the government, the police and the law courts .
Principles of s ocial jus tice
According to the Women and Law in S outhern Africa (2000), there are three main principles
namely:
1. Like cas es to be treated alike which means people of equal capacities are entitled to be
treated alike regardles s of their s ocial s tatus , religion, home, race, tribe, s ex and age.
2. Different cas es to be treated differently which means where there are clearly marked
differences involving evolving capacities between people then thos e differences mus t be
taken into cons ideration when adminis tering jus tice. E.g. a child brought before a law
court can not be tried in the s ame way as an adult offender becaus e the two are different.
3. Rules of natural jus tice s hould be followed which means the us e of s ame principles of
natural jus tice all over the world s uch as being cons idered as innocent until proven guilty
by the court of law.
Examples of s ocial jus tice in the s chool and the community
1. Fairnes s
2. J us tice
3. Res pect of human rights
4. Favourable punis hments to all
5. Equal treatment to all
6. Opennes s
7. Equality in decis ion making
8. Freedom of expres s ion
S ocial injus tice
This is when people are not treated fairly and their rights are not res pected.
Forms of s ocial injus tice in the s chool and the community
1. Bribery and corruption
2. Favouritis m and nepotis m
3. Preference for one ethnic group over the other
4. Preference for one gender over the other
5. Dis crimination agains t various groups of people e.g. the dis abled
6. Underpaying workers
Caus es of s ocial injus tice in Africa

1. Poverty which is lack of bas ic neces s ities like food and s helter.
2. Corruption - giving or receiving money or other methods of gratification in order to win or
induce favours .
3. Bribery – giving money or pres ents to s omeone s o that they help you in doing illegal or
dis hones t acts .
4. Dis crimination
5. Oppres s ion
Effects of s ocial injus tice
1. Bitternes s in people
2. Los s of confidence in people
3. People feel inferior
4. Lazines s
5. High criminal activities
6. Low development
7. S tigmatization ( a feeling that s omething is wrong or embarras s ing)
8. Conflict
9. Poverty
Ways of eradicating s ocial injus tice in the s chool and community
1. Everyone s hould participate in decis ion-making
2. Tolerating views of others
3. Good governance
4. Fair decis ions or punis hments
5. Equality and fairnes s in provis ion of s ervices
6. Res pecting people’s rights
7. Prevention of crimes
Importance of s ocial jus tice
1. Human rights of all are res pected.
2. Res ources are allocated fairly
3. Citizens are treated fairly by authorities and the legal s ys tem
4. Equal opportunities for all to participate in economic development
5. Peace and s ecurity
Organizations that deal with international s ocial jus tice and injus tice
1. United Nations – protects and promotes the integrity of all pers ons in the world. It als o
addres s es various is s ues e.g. poverty, illiteracy, injus tice, effects of wars and civil
conflicts .
2. International Police (Interpol) – helps countries to deal with criminal s us pects that
operate in more than one country. Criminal activities include drug trafficking, pros titution
and car hi-jacking.
3. Amnes ty International – inves tigate and report cas es of human rights violations all over
the world.
4. Human rights organizations e.g. the Office of the Ombuds man and the Human Rights
Commis s ion.
Ways in which organizations promote s ocial jus tice
1. Monitoring s ocial injus tices in the world.
2. Court trials for acts of s ocial injus tice
3. Expos ing s ocial injus tices in the media

4. Lobbying for international action agains t countries that promote s ocial injus tice e.g.
s anctions , freezing donor aid and freezing bank accounts .
S ucces s es and failures of organizations in promoting s ocial jus tice
1. S ucces s – the United Nations has been s etting up international tribunals to bring to trial
thos e accus ed of genocide and other crimes agains t humanity in former Yugos lavia and
Rwanda.
2. Failure – many individuals that have been committing crimes in Cambodia, Angola,
Liberia, S ierra Leone and Mozambique for the pas t 50 years have not been held
accountable for any of thes e crimes .
TOPIC 9: S OCIAL, ETHICAL AND

PERS ONAL DEVELOPMENT
Courts hip
Courts hip is the period of trying to know and unders tand the pros pective marriage partner. This
may las t for a long or a s hort time although the parent may become anxious if it goes on too long.
Ways of courting
1. Individual or face to face – boy and girl approach each other face to face in a bus , train,
entertainment centres , s ports activities or on the road. One may als o write a letter.
2. Third party or through a friend – a pers on s ends a friend or a relative to propos e to
s omeone whom he or s he has been attracted to.
3. Media advertis ement – through news papers , e-mail, face book and other forms of media
where people invite members of the oppos ite s ex to propos e to them.
Bas ic s teps towards courts hip
1. The encounter – when the two meet jus t by coincidence or other reas ons .
2. Attraction – when the two who have met or have been meeting get attracted to each other.
This may be one s ided or both ways .
3. Communication – propos ing s ide us ually the man or boy communicate to the other his
feelings .
4. Courts hip – pos itive ans wer to the propos al leads to courts hip while a negative ans wer
will therefore cut the whole proces s .
Importance of courting
1. Partners know each others pers onality, values and beliefs .
2. They learn each others attitudes and goals .
3. They know their partner’s family members
4. They res olve any difference
Marriage
This is a legal union between a man and a woman living as a hus band and wife.
Or
This is when a man and woman promis e to s tay together for the res t of their lives .
Reas ons for marriage
1. To have children and bring them up.
2. To have s exuality with one’s wife or hus band in an exclus ive way.
3. To enjoy lifelong friends hip, companions hip and emotional s ecurity.
4. To make a commitment to the pers on you love.

Factors cons idered when choos ing a marriage partner
1. Character or pers onality or appearance – a partner mus t have good behaviour,
cleanlines s and be well groomed.
2. Religious faith – partners s hould know each other’s denomination to avoid differences in
beliefs when they get married and als o if they belong to different religious groups , they
agree whom to follow the other.
3. Educational background – people s hould know their partner’s educational background
before getting married.
4. Health s tatus – partners need to know health and as s ociated problems or dis eas es s uch
as HIV/ AIDS and As thma.
5. S kills and knowledge – in rural areas , young men and women look for particular s kills
when choos ing partners e.g. building a hous e, s torage barns and fences .
6. S ocialization where partners mus t be able to mix with others .
7. Emotional s tatus
Ways of preparing for marriage
1. Abs tinence from premarital s ex where partners s hould not engage in s exual activities
during courts hip to avoid S TDs and unplanned pregnancies .
2. Long courts hip period for adequate preparation.
3. Building a home for making various decis ions concerning their life.
4. HIV/ AIDS tes ting s o that they know each other’s HIV s tatus to make right decis ions
concerning their marriage.
5. S ound financial bas e to be able to buy bas ic neces s ities s uch as food, clothes , education
res ources and als o acces s medical s ervices .
6. S ound employment to maintain their financial s tand.
Ways of entering into marriage
1. Traditional or cus tomary – when a man has identified a potential marriage partner, he
informs his uncle or aunt who officially propos e to the woman through her parents . On the
day of the marriage ceremony, the woman’s parents pres ent her to the pros pective
hus band through a celebration which may involve dancing and feas ting.
2. Chris tian celebration – it is celebrated under Chris tian law by a pries t in a church. Every
religious celebration demands an initial traditional s ys tem firs t.
3. Civil marriage – it is conducted in the Regis trar General’s office. An appointment is made
3 weeks before the marriage day to give chance to people with objections . It is done by an
authorized government officer.
4. Mus lim ceremony – it involves the s igning of contract with the bride’s father or guardian
before two male mus lim witnes s es . The imam preaches and then the couple exchanges
rings .
5. Civic marriage – it is conducted at a civic council by either the mayor or chairman of the
council. It becomes valid by the civil type of marriage.
6. Elopement – it is an arrangement where a man and woman arrange to s ecretly get
married. It is ques tionable to undergo this ceremony becaus e if the two do this in s ecrecy
it may mean that either one or both of them already belong to another marriage and have
decided to run away from s uch marriages or the marriage is objectionable to s ome
members of the family or community.
7. Co-habitation – an arrangement where a man and woman live together in a hous e and
s ometimes may go ahead to have children but are not officially married. It may come

becaus e the two may find the marriage preparation proces s too long and involving, premarital s ex
during courts hip might have led to unwanted pregnancy or it may be out of
choice.
Factors that help to pres erve marriage
1. Hones ty which means being truthful to each other and mus t dis cus s is s ues without
hiding.
2. Free choice of marriage partner where the two partners s hould be allowed to contact each
other before a marriage arrangement.
3. Forgiving and forgetting which means partners mus t dis cus s their differences and if
s omeone has made a mis take, he or s he mus t apologize.
4. Fidelity which means being loyal and faithful to each other by avoiding adultery.
5. Pers everance by being able to res is t daily problems to avoid breaking up marriages .
6. Mutual care where partners care for each other in all as pects of their marriage like looking
after the hous ehold, children and each other when one is s ick.
7. Communication where partners s hould tell each other what is happening and how they
feel.
Res pons ible parenthood
It refers to the provis ion of bas ic needs to the family s uch as food, love, clothing and s helter.
It als o involves s ocialization which helps children to:
 Know the differences between right and wrong
 Behave in appropriate manner
 Res pect elders
 Value the importance of tradition and community cus toms
 Give value to any hard work
S ocial and ethical values
A s ocial value is a practice, idea or belief that people belonging to a particular group or s ociety
hold in res pect or high es teem.
An ethical value is a general idea, practice or belief which influences the way a particular group
of people or s ociety cons iders good or bad behaviour.
International s ocial and ethical values
1. Appreciation of other people’s culture where people view other people’s culture pos itively.
2. Res pect for people’s rights by not infringing on other people’s rights .
3. Racial or ethnic equality in which racial and ethnic identities of people s hould be
res pected
4. Res pect for the rule of law by obs erving and res pecting all laws and internationally
acceptable laws .
5. Freedom of wors hip by res pecting individual choice of religion and freedom of other
people to wors hip within the community.
6. Res pect for international health requirements es pecially a pers on travelling to another
country s hould be certified free from dis eas es s uch as s mall pox, yellow fever and
HIV/ IDS .
7. Res pect for international immigration requirements in order to regulate the flow of people
s o travellers have to carry a proof of their identity s uch as a pas s port and health
certificates .

8. S ympathy and empathy (when one can imagine what is like to go through the s ame
experience as s omeone els e) which means people s hould be moved by the s uffering of
others .
Contributions of s ocial and ethical values for international life
1. Leads to peace
2. S cientific and economic development
3. Enhance cultural exchange
4. Promotes international s ecurity
5. Develops education
6. Res pect of other people’s rights
TOPIC 10: POPULATION AND

DEVELOPMENT
The total population of any s ociety can change either through increas ing or decreas ing. The total
population of the world has been increas ing becaus e the total populations of many countries
have been increas ing.
Factors that lead to population change
1. Birth rate means number of live births in one year for every 1000 people. It is mainly
affected by fertility rate (average number of children born to a woman) which means high
birth rates increas e population of an area.
2. Death rate means number of deaths in one year per 1000 of a population. High death
rates would res ult into a reduction in the population of the country.
3. Infant mortality rate means number of children who do not live until the age of one.
4. Epidemics which means outbreak of dis eas es has an impact of reducing the population of
an area becaus e they kill a lot of people within a s hort period of time.
5. Natural dis as ters s uch as floods and earthquakes kill many people at the s ame time thus
leading to a reduction in population.
6. Unemployment affects population. For example, rural areas have low population due to
high unemployment levels while urban areas have high population becaus e people
migrate to thes e areas to acces s employment.
7. Wars make people to flee their areas thus leading to low population in conflict areas while
peaceful areas have high population.
8. Migration which may be through emigration (movement of people from their country to
live in another country) and immigration (movement of people into a foreign country). This
may be due to s ocial, economic and political reas ons thus emigration reduces population
while immigration increas es population.
9. Acces s ibility to financial res ources which means people become attracted to areas with
many opportunities of financial opportunities thereby increas ing the population of an area.
10. Maternal mortality (women who die when giving birth) affects the population becaus e
higher maternal mortality leads to a reduction in population while low maternal mortality
rates res ult to high population.
Effects of population growth
1. Pres s ure on res ources s uch as land, fores ts and water.
2. Los s of human res ources due to food ins ecurity.

3. Poverty due to lack of acces s to s ocial and economic s ervices .
4. Unemployment becaus e the population is higher compared to the number of jobs .
5. Overcrowding which can res ult into eas y s pread of infectious dis eas es .
6. Increas e in crime becaus e many people can not acces s bas ic neces s ities .
7. Pollution due to improper was te dis pos als .
8. Food ins ecurity.
Impact of population growth on development
1. Lowering of quality of s ervices e.g. education and health.
2. High levels of poverty
3. Los s of peace and s ecurity
4. Environmental degradation.
5. Illnes s
6. High mortality rates
Population control
Thes e are efforts to s low population growth through action to lower fertility.
Or
It is the reduction of population s ize of a country.
Ways of controlling population growth
1. Natural methods
a. Epidemics – dis eas es that are capable of s preading and killing a lot of people
within a s hort period of time e.g. the Ebola virus , yellow fever and Meningitis .
b. Drought which is an abnormally prolonged dry s pell that can caus e death of many
people es pecially thos e that depend on agriculture.
c. Famine which is the extreme s carcity of food that caus es death of people.
d. Natural death becaus e people are made not to live eternally.
2. Man-made
a. Wars
b. Family planning which means cons cious effort of couples to regulate the number
of s pacing of births through artificial and natural methods of contraception.
Importance of controlling population growth
1. Reduces overcrowding in many places .
2. Reduces environmental degradation.
3. Ens ure availability of res ources .
4. Reduces unemployment
5. Good provis ion of s ocial s ervices
6. Food s ecurity
7. Low urbanization
Environmental cons ervation
Thes e are methods to protect natural res ources s o that they are permanently available.
Or
Thes e are principles and practices that help to keep the environment s afe and in good condition.
Importance of environmental cons ervation
1. Pres ervation of s pecies of plant and animal.
2. Avoiding land and s oil degradation
3. Maintaining plant and animal divers ity
4. Improving productivity s ince nutrients are cons erved.

Human practices that des troy living and non-living things
1. Pollution of the land, air and water becaus e of dis pos ing domes tic was tes into rivers ,
cons truction of pit latrines or wells , us ing bus h latrines , s moking in public places , fis hing
us ing herbs .
2. Careles s cutting down of trees for fuel wood, charcoal, timber, s ettlement and cultivation.
3. Poaching (illegal hunting of wild animals ) becaus e they want food, concoctions for
medicinal us e and ivory from elephants .
4. Overfis hing due to a high demand caus ed by an increas e in population.
5. Overs tocking (keeping of more domes tic animals than a piece of land can s us tainably
hold) and overgrazing.
Cons equences of des troying the environment
1. Climatic change
2. Global warming which caus es warming up of icy regions of Arctic and Antarctica. This
may make the s ea levels to ris e and eventually lead to floods .
3. Heavy us e of energy res ults to rapid us e of non-renewable res ources .
4. S oil eros ion and des ertification due to defores tation.
5. Poverty, ill health and s tarvation due to los s of fertility.
6. S pecies of flora (plants ) and fauna (animals ) s hall become extinct.
7. Wars will be fought on water due to the ever increas ing population on the land.
8. S carcity of water.
The Population Policy of Malawi
It was formulated in 1994 and was influenced by the following factors :
1. High fertility rate
2. Rapid population growth
3. High dependency burden (50% of population is under 15 years hence many people are
dependants )
4. Pres s ure on land and s ocial s ervices .
5. Unemployment problems .
Elements of the population policy
1. Demographic and family planning which has the following objectives :
a. To achieve a lower population growth rate.
b. To lower fertility, infant, child and maternal mortality.
c. To reduce adoles cent marriages and teenage pregnancies .
d. To s low down the high rate of urbanization.
2. Information, education and communication which has the following objectives :
a. To enhance programmes which increas e awarenes s of the population problems
and facilitate acces s to information about contraceptives .
b. To improve acces s , quality, efficiency and vocational relevance of primary s chool
and informal educational s ys tems .
c. To s ys tematically integrate population education in formal s chool s ys tem and
other ins titutions of learning.
3. Gender and development which has the following objectives :
a. To improve the s tatus of the youth and women in all s pheres of development.
b. To ens ure food s ecurity and adequate nutrition for mothers and children
4. Res earch and environment which has the following objectives :
a. To improve the s tatus of the youth and women in all s pheres of development

b. To ens ure food s ecurity and adequate nutrition for mothers and children
5. Employment which has the following objectives :
a. To improve entrepreneurial, managerial and other relevant s kills for the country’s
labour force.
b. To increas e productive employment and more equitable dis tribution of res ources .
Practices that affect the implementation of the population policy
1. Polygamy (having more than one wife) which may lead to S TDs including HIV/ AIDS hence
many people die.
2. Religious beliefs in s ome religions prohibit their members to us e contraceptives . This
may affect child s pacing in families .
3. Initiation ceremonies which bring bad practices s uch as fis i (s exual practices with a girl
undergoing initiation) can lead to the s pread of S TDs as well as unwanted pregnancies .
4. Moral decay s uch as pros titution and drug abus e can lead to S TDs , unwanted
pregnancies and mental illnes s es .
5. Wife or hus band inheritance or chokolo can facilitate the s pread of S TDs and high
population.
6. Widow cleans ing can lead to high population and s pread of S TDs including HIV/ AIDS .
Ways of eradicating practices that affect the implementation of the population policy
1. Public awarenes s campaigns to s ens itize the public the negative effects of s uch practices .
2. Women empowerment which might make a woman to know her rights and hence s ay ‘no’
to s uch practices .
3. Us e of legis lation to punis h thos e that are caught facilitating thes e practices .
S trategies for implementing the population policy
1. Information, education and communication
a. For married couples – relay clear mes s ages about family planning us ing pers onal
contacts , eye-catching pos ters , written information, drama traditional dances ,
proverbs and the media.
b. For young people – convey mes s ages about:
i. Human s exuality and how reproduction takes place.
ii. Dangers of unprotected s ex e.g. unwanted pregnancies and S TDs .
iii. Accurate information about different contraceptives
iv. The need for boys to take res pons ibility for their s exual bahaviour, to res pect
girls and accept that girls have authority over their bodies .
v. Need for girls to develop s elf res pect and s ay no to cas ual s ex.
vi. High health ris ks involved in early pregnancies .
vii. High ris ks involved in abortion e.g. it is agains t the law, can lead to infertility
and even death.
2. Res earch – collecting data at frequent intervals by examining records of births , deaths ,
hos pital and employers ’ records and cens us records as well as conducting interviews for
people.
3. Family planning s ervice delivery – people s hould have eas y acces s to family planning
facilities to get contraceptive s ervices and advice on contraceptives .
4. Gender and development – as pects of this s trategy include:
a. To change traditional attitudes and practices which dis criminate agains t women
and girls .
b. To promote female education

c. To increas e levels of female participation in community programmes .
d. To rais e awarenes s of women’s legal rights .
e. To provide day care centres for women at work.
f.
To provide equal pay for equal work.
g. To as s is t s ingle parent hous eholds with advice on how to generate income.
5. Advocacy – key individuals and groups es tablis h links with decis ion-making in the
community and get mes s ages about family planning, res pons ible parenthood, s afe
motherhood and s mall s ized families .
Programmes for implementing the Malawi Population Policy
1. Reproductive health – it was adopted as a key programme after an International
Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo in 1994. It is run by the Minis try
of Health and Population and its components include family planning, s afe motherhood,
adoles cent reproductive health, prevention and management of S TDs including HIV/ AIDS .
It targets men, women and the youth.
2. S afe motherhood – it was launched in 1996 to reduce the maternal mortality figure to 310
for every 100,000 births and targets women.
3. National Adoles cent Reproductive Health Programme – a needs as s es s ment was done on
adoles cent reproductive health in 1998 and s et up the following activities :
a. Moral training in primary and s econdary s chools curriculum.
b. GABLE project working with traditional leaders in moral training and es s ential life
s kills e.g. decis ion-making and negotiation.
c. S ome youth groups are providing reproductive health education to their peers .
d. Mes s ages on res pons ible s exual practices through pos ters , pamphlets , t-s hirts and
the radio. It targets the youth es pecially adoles cents .
4. Information, Education and Communication (IEC) – mes s ages would be conveyed in a
clear, friendly and culturally acceptable way us ing pictures and s tories . It targets everyone.
5. Gender – thes e are done by both the government and NGOs to addres s gender is s ues e.g.
girls Attainment in Bas ic Literacy and Education (GABLE) and Forum for African Women
Educationalis ts in Malawi (FAWEMA). It targets men, women and the youth.
6. Advocacy – programmes are aimed at s upporting a particular caus e or is s ue and mainly
promote change in policy, programmes or legis lation and create a s upportive environment
for programmes . It deals with is s ues e.g. rights of adoles cents to contraceptives ,
maternity leave, domes tic violence and gender equality. It targets everyone.
People need to work together to ens ure that the objectives of the population policy are achieved
effectively.
Guidance and couns elling on HIV/ AIDS
Guidance and couns elling involves face to face interaction (communication) between the pers on
with a problem and the one trying to s olve the problem. Couns elling provides people with
information that helps to s olve a difficult decis ion or effects of the dis eas es .
Voluntary couns elling and tes ting (VCT) is the important national planning for fighting this
dis eas e. The pers on offering advice is known as a couns ellor and the pers on receiving the
advice is a client.
Types of couns elling
1. Pre-tes t – it is done before one is tes ted for HIV/ AIDS . The client is informed the
importance of the tes t, s trict confidentiality and is given time to make a decis ion. This

prepares the client ps ychologically to accept the res ults .
2. Pos t-tes t – it is done after the tes t. Thos e who are HIV negative are couns elled on how
they can avoid being infected. For thos e who are HIV pos itive, they are advis ed on how to
conduct their s exual behaviour, types of food they s hould eat, is s ues about children and
how to s tay with their partner if married.
3. Continuing – it is done to people who have been diagnos ed HIV pos itive from time to
time at home, hos pitals or other places .
4. Pas toral – it is offered by religious leaders who give s piritual guidance to give hope to
HIV/ AIDs patients and guardians us ing Bible mes s ages by encouraging faithfulnes s in
marriage and abs tinence.
5. Preventive – it is given to thos e who are HIV negative but whos e behaviour puts them at
a ris k and als o to thos e who are HIV pos itive to help them look after their health and avoid
s preading the dis eas e.
6. S upportive – it is offered to patients , guardians and families to help them s olve problems
brought by the dis eas e to make future plans . It als o provides s upport to relatives during
bereavement time.
Ins titutions that provide guidance and couns elling on HIV/ AIDS
1. Public and private hos pitals – thes e provide information on HIV/ AIDS , s creening of
people for HIV/ AIDS and treatment of other dis eas es s uffered by HIV/ AIDS patients .
2. Banja La Mts ogolo – thes e provide reproductive health, guidance and couns elling and
public awarenes s towards HIV/ AIDS .
3. Drop in centres – thes e are s imple facilities which provide guidance and couns elling,
public awarenes s towards HIV/ AIDS . They are community bas ed.
4. NGOs e.g. Plan International Malawi, Action Aid Malawi, Malawi AIDS Couns elling and
Res ource Centre (MACRO).
5. Religious organizations e.g. Adventis t and Relief Agency (ADRA) and Blantyre Chris tian
Centre.
6. Community Bas ed Organizations – S alima AIDS S upport Organization and Friends of
AIDS and S upport Trus t in Ns anje.
7. Youth organizations
8. Companies
Methods of guiding and couns elling HIV/ AIDS patients and guardians
1. Home-bas ed care s upervis ors – this is when members of a hous ehold with HIV/ AIDS
patients and s elected people from the community are trained to provide guidance and
couns elling in their own home. It is done at home becaus e HIV/ AIDS is a chronic dis eas e
that las ts months or years , s o a patient may be moving from home to hos pital and back
again for s everal times .
2. Peer couns elling – this is when people of the s ame characteris tics with res pect to age or
s ocial s tatus e.g. youths , politicians , community leaders , guardians of HIV/ AIDS patients
and traditional healers educate and influence each other. Thes e are trained to:
a. Dis cus s dangers of promis cuous behaviour
b. Teach ways to prevent HIV/ AIDS
c. Provide s upportive advice and love to HIV/ AIDS patients .
3. Man to man – it makes us e of men to couns el other men s ince they are free with fellow
men and not women or their s pous es to talk about this dis eas e.
In addition, men tend to have more s pous es (s exual partners ) which leads to the s pread

of HIV/ AIDS , s o they need to be us ed. BLM has this programme where men in villages ,
workplaces and other communities are educated on:
a. Awarenes s of s ymptoms and treatment of s exually trans mitted dis eas es .
b. Information on HIV/ AIDS
c. Information on family planning and res pons ible s exual behaviour
d. Us e of condoms
e. Preventive and s upportive couns elling to HIV/ AIDS
4. Us e of hos pital bas ed couns ellors - trained health pers onnel from big hos pitals , clinics
and dis pens aries provide guidance and couns elling to HIV/ AIDS patients , guidance and
HIV/ AIDS negative people.
Importance of couns elling HIV/ AIDS patients and guardians
1. Diffus e fears , feelings and worries .
2. Make people to change their behaviours and attitudes .
3. Help to find reliable s olutions to HIV infection.
4. Offers hope and confidence to patients .
5. Help people to know the relations hip between other s exually trans mitted dis eas es and
HIV/ AIDS
6. Reduces HIV/ AIDS infections
7. Reduces dis crimination or s tigmatization
Cons equences of lack of guidance and couns elling
1. HIV/ AIDS patients live in fear and anxiety which can make them commit s uicide.
2. Patients and guardians face dis crimination by the family members and the s ociety.
3. HIV/ AIDS patients will continue to be s pread s ince people do not know much about this
dis eas e.
4. Patients and others can not change their attitudes and behaviour.
S exually Trans mitted Dis eas es and HIV/ AIDS in Malawi
S TDs are dis eas es trans mitted through s exual intercours e with a pers on who is already infected
with the dis eas e. Examples include s yphilis (chindoko), gonorrhea (chonzonono), Candida
(mauka) and HIV/ AIDS .
Importance of caring for S TD and HIV/ AIDS patients
1. They develop a s ens e of belonging s ince they are cared for.
2. Gives a patient hope which means he is as s ured of living longer and relatives will be cared
for when he dies .
3. Improves their quality of life s ince they are in clos e contact with people. This contact
removes s tres s , anxiety and depres s ion.
4. Decreas es s tigma s ince leaders are involved in caring for patients hence the community
follows the s et example.
5. S trengthens HIV/ AIDS prevention to others that anyone can be at ris k with reference to
patients ’ experiences .
Ways of caring for S TD and HIV/ AIDS patients
1. S upport by guardians and other caretakers in the hos pitals and at home who couns el
patients , s pend a lot of time with them, s how their love and do hous ehold tas ks .
2. Provis ion of nutritious food and other neces s ities s uch as energy giving, body giving and
protective foods . They s hould be told to avoid s moking and drinking alcohol as well as
advis ed to be s leeping on clean clothing.

3. Patients s hould be encouraged to s eek early medical as s is tance. For example, patients
s uffering from curable S TDs s hould get the treatment before the s ituation wors ens and
thos e s uffering from HIV/ AIDS s hould look for life prolonging drugs provided for free and
s old in both public and private hos pitals .
4. S piritual and moral s upport provided by religious leaders by praying to give the patients
hope and encouragement.
Importance of hos pital-bas ed and home-bas ed care for HIV/ AIDS patients
1. Hos pital-bas ed
a. Helps treatment of HIV/ AIDS related dis eas es like pneumonia, tuberculos is and
s kin dis eas es .
b. Minimizes the re-infection of S TDs becaus e the patient is not in s exual contact with
infected people and partners .
c. There is prolonging of life s ince the patient is clos ely monitored by s pecialis ts .
d. Prevent overburdening of individuals at home es pecially women who perform many
tas ks to patients .
e. Relatives are given advice on how to care for patients .
2. Home-bas ed care
a. Reduces ris k of contracting other dis eas es which are brought by conges tion in
hos pitals .
b. Reduces cos ts which can be accumulated by hos pital vis its , s upporting the
patients with food, medical bills and clothing.
c. Reduces care burden in hos pitals becaus e health s ervices are not provided to a lot
of people.
d. Relatives are able to do other duties when the patient is at home than in hos pitals .
e. Good bas ic home care makes the patient to be active and productive.
f.
Helps to des tigmatis e HIV/ AIDS
g. Educates families and communities about HIV/ AIDS prevention
h. Provides as s urance of love and affection becaus e people feel comforted at their
homes when they are with friends and relatives .
Ways in which guardians can avoid contracting HIV/ AIDS
1. Covering broken s kin, s ores or cuts with water proof plas ters or dres s ing before contact
with patients .
2. Was hing blood s tained clothes with chemical dis infectants or at high temperatures .
3. S afe dis pos al of was te contaminated with blood and body fluids .
4. Wearing gloves and gowns when handling patients .
5. Was h hands with s oap before and after handling patients .
6. Avoid s haring pers onal items that might have blood on them s uch as toothbrus hes , dental
appliances , razors or nail-grooming equipment.
7. Avoid kis s ing if anyone has bleeding gums and mouth s ores .
Drug and s ubs tance us e and abus e
A drug is any s ubs tance that has a phys ical effect on human being. There a lot of drugs which
are us ed to cure dis eas es s uch as antibiotics (cure infections ), analges ics (control pain),
anaes thetics (eliminate s ens ation es pecially when doing operation), narcotics (to make
s omeone s leepy and s top pain), s timulants (make s omeone active).
When a drug is us ed for s ome purpos es than what it is intended for, we s ay it is abus ed. Drugs

frequently abus ed include heroin(narcotic), cocaine(s timulant), valium(depres s ant), cannabis ,
as pirin and hallucinogens (make s omeone s ee what is not there). S ubs tances that are abus ed
include termic, glue, alcohol and petrol. People mis us e drugs becaus e people believe they will
make them feel happy, more intelligent and more relaxed.
Caus es of drug and s ubs tance us e and abus e
1. Peer pres s ure
2. Lack of adequate family s upport
3. Lack of parental s upervis ion
4. Exces s uns upervis ed time
5. Low tolerance for frus tration
6. Increas ed acces s to drugs es pecially health workers
7. To become addicted
Effects of drug and s ubs tance abus e
1. To the individual
a. Become violent and aggres s ive
b. Lead to unprotected s ex which res ult into S TDs
c. Breakdown of marriages
d. S ocial is olation
e. Los s of employment
f.
Death
g. Ins anity or madnes s
h. Lung cancer
i. Heart failure and res piratory dis eas es
j. Bad performance at s chool
k.
Accidents
l. Impotence
2. To the family
a. Los s of money us ed for buying and for medical care s ince drug abus ers have
health ris ks .
b. Family lives in fear and anxiety s ince the abus er becomes violent and mentally ill
c. Low productivity becaus e a family member becomes mentally ill s o he or s he can
not as s is t in the work
d. Death caus ed by irres pons ible behaviour and road accidents
e. Los s of employment hence lack of s upport to the family.
Impact of drug and s ubs tance abus e on development
1. Los s of well trained people s ince drug abus ers are at a health ris k, they may die early
without helping much on the development of the country.
2. Pres s ure on health s ervices s ince the abus ers who are s ick need a large amount of
money for buying drugs . This money would have been us ed on other developmental
activities .
3. Dis tortion of age-s ex s tructure becaus e many youths and males are drug abus ers which
will dis tort their age and s tructure hence low contributions to development.
4. Increas ed juvenile delinquency s ince many youths are involved in many cas es s uch as
rape and robberies which means they will end up in pris on. As a res ult, they can not

contribute to development.
5. Increas ed orphanages becaus e many drug abus ers are males who have a family s o if
thes e people die, there will be orphans and women hence no means of s urvival.
6. Low productivity due to abs enteeis m by the abus er in working places which then
decreas es development.
Ways of avoiding the effects of drug and s ubs tance abus e
1. Following pres criptions by us ing drugs for their intended purpos e.
2. Avoiding bad influences of peers .
3. Avoiding places where people will be drinking and us ing drugs .
Ways of curbing drug and s ubs tance abus e
1. Civic education and literacy programmes which will help people to know the effects of
drug and s ubs tance abus e s o they will s tay off drugs .
2. Being engaged in productive work or occupation which makes people to be bus y mos t of
the time and s tay off drugs .
3. Couns elling on drug and s ubs tance abus e to help abus ers to s olve problems that make
them to abus e drugs and s ubs tances .
4. Family help and interventions by cons ulting profes s ionals who give the families
knowledge of helping the addict or alcoholic or abus er. In addition, the family s hould give
s upport when the abus er has as ked for help.
5. Medication by phys icians to make people s tay off drugs and s ubs tances e.g. Naltrexone
or us ing traditional drugs .
TOPIC 11: S OCIAL S ERVICES AND

DEVELOPMENT
S ocial s ervices ins titutions are thos e that provide s ervices s uch as education and health.
Provis ion and care of s ocial s ervices
1. Education – there are high levels of adult illiteracy rates among females in mos t African
countries s uch as Malawi. Countries need to find ways of reaching more women with
education and als o improve the percentage of s tudents enrolling at s econdary s chool
level.
2. Health s ervices – provis ion of health s ervices is poor in mos t African countries due to
s hortage of phys icians hence people do not acces s quality medical care.
3. Water and s anitary s ervices – s afe water and s anitation s ervices is high in urban areas
than in rural areas .
4. Electricity, trans port, communication, information and technological s ervices – many
developing countries face problems in the provis ion of thes e s ervices .
5. Hous ing – many people in developing countries res iding in rural and high dens ity urban
areas live in hous es not fit for human s ettlement. There are a lot of s hanty hous es that
leak. Central and local governments , NGOs and agencies are working hard to improve
hous ing conditions in many developing countries . Habitat for Humanity International is
one of the organizations that are working hard towards helping people have acces s to
decent hous es .
Contributions of s ocial s ervices to development
1. Education helps in the provis ion of s emi-s killed and s killed labour force. In addition,

educated people provide a better s tandard of living for their families .
2. Health s ervices , s afe water and good s anitation make people to be healthy who contribute
to the development of their s ocieties .
3. Peace and s tability attract both domes tic and foreign inves tors becaus e they are as s ured
of s ecurity.
4. Adequate trans portation, communication and electricity lead to the s mooth running of
bus ines s es which develop countries and provide employment to people.
Impact of population growth on s ocial s ervices
1. Provis ion of education to an increas ed population will be too expens ive and not pos s ible
due to inadequate res ources .
2. Pres s ure on health s ervices becaus e more people will need medical attention, acces s to
s afe water and s anitation.
3. S train on the ability to maintain peace and s ecurity s ince law enforcers find it difficult.
4. S hortage of hous ing, trans port and communication.
Reas ons for mis us e of s ocial s ervices
1. Poverty which caus es people to be involved in theft.
2. Lack of financial res ources for maintenance es pecially in poor African countries .
3. Negative attitudes s ince people do not have a s ens e of owners hip of s ocial s ervices by
believing that they are owned by the government.
4. Ignorance and lack of appreciation becaus e people do not unders tand the importance of
s ocial s ervices .
5. Political influence makes people to des troy s tructures built by the previous regime and
believe the exis ting government s hall provide its own s ocial s ervice ins titutions .
Wis e us e of s ocial s ervices
1. Queuing in an orderly fas hion for s ervices .
2. Receiving only enough of the s ervice by obtaining res ources s uitable to an individual.
3. Res pecting one another.
4. Protecting infras tructure by maintaining and res pecting them.
5. Guarding agains t theft and vandalis m.
6. Civic education about the importance and s ocial s ervices .
Critical is s ues relating to the provis ion of s ocial s ervices
1. Availability of s ocial s ervices which means s ocial development can not take place without
the availability of s ocial s ervices .
2. Types of s ocial s ervices which means there is a need of various s ocial s ervices to achieve
s ocial development.
3. Quality of s ocial s ervices which means the s ervice s hould have a capacity to s atis fy the
needs of a particular group of us ers . The s ocial s ervice s hould be of the right kind and be
s uitable for us e by thos e for whom it is intended.
4. Acces s ibility which means s ocial s ervices s hould be located where they can be eas ily
reached in both rural and urban areas . In addition, their acces s ibility s hould not be
affected by organizational, cultural and economic problems .
5. Affordability thus people s hould be able to pay for the s ervices .
6. Care for s ocial s ervices by the people s o that they continue providing quality s ervices .
Effects of is s ues relating to the provis ion of s ocial s ervices on development
 If s ocial s ervices are adequate and available to all people, there is development. For
ins tance, people who are educated and healthy contribute to development.
 However, if the s ocial s ervices are only available to people in certain areas only or to the
well to do, people in deprived areas will feel jealous y and engage in negative is s ues to
development.
Renowned people in s ocial s ervices
1. Henry Dunant - He is a S wis s who was born on 8th May, 1828 whos e idea led to the
formation of Red Cros s . He came up with the idea of forming Red Cros s when he came
upon a bloody battle in S olferino, Italy where the French and Italian troops were fighting
Aus trian s oldiers . During this war, 40,000 s oldiers were either killed or wounded. When he
went home, he advocated for a formation of relief s ocieties to help people wounded
during wars . He teamed up with s ome S wis s citizens and formed the International
Committee for the Relief of the Wounded in 1863 which later changed to International
Committee of the Red Cros s .
Its s ymbol is a red cros s on a white background which is the oppos ite of the S wis s flag
(has a white cros s on a red background)
2. J airos J iri – he is a generous man from Zimbabwe who was pitiful of s ome dis abled
people in the s treets . He funded the J airos J iri As s ociation for Rehabilitation of the
Dis abled and the Blind which s tarted its work in 195i. The as s ociation brought 20 dis abled
people (the blind and crippled) for training in various trades . Today, it is the larges t
national rehabilitation agency with s chools , training centres , craft centres and a centre for
older people with dis abilities . It is es timated that 10,000 dis abled people benefit from this
organization every year.
3. Mother Theres a (Teres a) – S he was born in 1910 from Albanian parents and died in 1997.
S he was a Roman Catholic nun who devoted her life to care for the poores t in India and
this earned her a name ‘S aint of the Gutters ’. S he founded the Mis s ionaries Charity in
Calcutta or S is ters of Charity. S he was living with the s ick and the homeles s in Calcutta.
Their achievements include:
 The s is ters brought many people who were s ick and dying to a s pecial home where
they were looked after to die with dignity.
 They looked after many babies and little children who were orphans or abandoned
by poor parents . There are 40 s uch homes in India.
 They es tablis hed S hanti Nagar, a city of peace where the lepers could look after
thems elves .
 They es tablis hed a hous e in Rome for alcoholics , drug addicts and the homeles s .
 They operated s oup kitchens for the homeles s in s ome bigges t cities in the world,
helped thos e with AIDS and s upported pris oners .
4. J immy Carter – he was the pres ident of US A from 1977 to 1981 who advocated for s ocial
jus tice and bas ic human rights with his wife Ros alynn. Their work included:
a. Pers uaded leaders of Egypt and Is rael to s ign a peace treaty
b. Es tablis hed Habitat for Humanity International, a non-profit making Chris tian
organization that eliminates s ubs tandard hous ing. This began in 1984 when it
renovated a s ix s torey building with 19 families in New York. It works in US A,
Canada and 79 other countries including Malawi and has built 30000 hous es
around the world.
c. They lead a ‘Building Blitz’ each year in which volunteers build hous es for a period
of 2 to 3 weeks .

5. Florence Nightingale – s he was born on 12th May, 1820 in Italy and died in 1910. S he is
known univers ally as the founder of modern nurs ing. Her work include:
a. In March, 1854, s he helped wounded Britis h s oldiers during the Crimean war in
Turkey with 38 nurs es . They improved s anitation and reduced death rate of
patients .
b. After the war, s he became the public health advis or to all countries in the world.
c. S he es tablis hed a nurs ing s chool with money donated by her former patients and
charity.
6. George Claver – he helped to form the Human Rights Forum for the Dis abled and Other
Dis advantaged in 1997 with an aim of helping dis abled people in Malawi. On the
International Day for the People with Dis abilities in 1998, he as ked the pres ident of Malawi
to look into difficulties faced by the dis abled. He als o taught MPs not to us e terms like
’crippled’ and ‘handicapped’ and drafting of a national policy to give dis abled people equal
acces s to s ocial s ervices .
7. Brother Hortens ius Meeuws – he was a teacher at S t Patricks S econdary S chool in
Malawi who helped for the es tablis hment of a s chool for the deaf at Mary View,
Chiradzulu which s tarted with 5 s tudents . He als o led to the es tablis hment of other
s chools for the deaf at Mua, Dedza and Embangweni, Mzimba and Mountain View, Thyolo.
TOPIC 12: GLOBAL VILLAGE

Global is s ues and challenges in the 21s t Century
1. Economic globalization – the increas ing integration of economies around the world
through trade and financial flows as well as through movement of people and knowledge
acros s international borders . The proces s of economic globalization has been affected by
three factors namely:
a. Improvements in technology of trans portation and communication which has led to
the reduced cos ts of trans porting goods and s ervices and other factors of
production as well as communicating economically us eful knowledge and
technology.
b. Individuals and s ocieties have favoured taking advantage of the benefits of
economic integration which has brought fas ter economic growth.
c. Public policies of mos t governments have s ignificantly influenced the character
and pace of economic integration e.g. trade liberalization which attract foreign
inves tors .
2. Epidemics s uch as HIV/ AIDS , the Ebola virus and Meningitis :
a. It is es timated that HIV/ AIDS had affected 34.3 million people at the beginning of
the year 2000 and had already killed 18.8 million people world wide.
b. It is es timated that there are 1.2 million cas es of meningitis worldwide every year. It
is highly fatal characterized by intens e headache and s tiff neck. It is trans mitted
through direct contact with an infected pers on.
c. The Ebola virus caus es s evere hemorrhagic fever in humans (s evere bleeding both
internally and externally). Mos t patients die within the firs t 8-9 days of infection and
it is trans mitted through direct contact with an infected pers on.
3. Terroris m means unlawful practice us ing violent and intimidating methods agains t people
or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population or any part for

political and s ocial objectives . There are many terroris t groups in the world namely:
a. Eus kadi to As katas una (ETA) – it is bas ed in S pain and fight for independence of
Bas que people who live in North Wes t S pain. It carries out acts of violence agains t
the S panis h government e.g. as s as s inations , bombings and kidnappings .
b. Hamas is a group which was born in 1987 in Gaza s trip and carries out attacks
mos tly agains t Is raelis becaus e of occupying Hamas cons idered to be for
Pales tinians .
c. Hizbolla or a Party of God is a Lebanes e S hiite group created in 1983 to create an
independent Is lamic Lebanon and the ous ter of anything related to the godles s
Wes t. It does activities that are anti US and Is rael and targets Is rael civilians and
military pers onnel. It us es s uicide bombers which refers to people willing to
commit s uicide for the s ake of killing many other people when the bomb explodes .
4. Poverty is es timated to be experienced by over 1 billion people. Thes e are people who live
on les s than 1 US dollar per day. Abs olute poverty is a condition characterized by
deprivation of bas ic needs like s afe drinking water, s anitation, health, s helter, education
and information.
5. The problem of refugees is a global concern becaus e refugees are of every race and
religion and found in every part of the world. It is es timated that there were 22.3 million
refugees in the year 2000.
6. Proliferation of weapons of mas s des truction which are weapons that are capable of
killing a lot of people at one time e.g.
a. Nuclear weapons have an explos ion which res ults from the energy releas ed by
reactions involving atomic nuclei. Thes e kill millions of people within minutes of a
nuclear bomb. Long term effects of radiation include high incidents of cancer,
s terility, cataracts , blood dis orders and genetic damage to pres ent and future
generations .
b. Biological and chemical weapons – biological us e biological agents which contain
either living organis ms or the derivatives like toxins which caus e dis eas e or death.
Chemical weapons releas e toxic gas es or liquids that attack the body’s nerves ,
blood, s kin or lungs . They may provide s urface effects like tears , vomiting and
blis ters .
c. Anti-pers onnel landmines – thes e are explos ive weapons des igned to kill or injure
anyone that comes into contact with them. They are often referred to as weapons
of mas s des truction in s low motion becaus e they are indis criminate weapons that
keep on killing long after hos tilities have ended and remain for years or even
decades .
7. Environmental problems affect the entire world and include air and water pollution, ozone
depletion and defores tation.
Implications of global is s ues and challenges on development
1. Globalization of economies has helped
a. To increas e levels of international trade, communication and technology
b. Countries to open up and gain acces s to technology
c. Eas y movement of goods and people
Globalization has negatively affected the world becaus e:
 It has res ulted in the problem of brain drain in mos t developing countries s ince
many s killed people migrate to developed countries .
 It has increas ed the gap between the rich and the poor among and within countries
2. Environmental problems have led to the growing threat to the phys ical health, economic
and s ocial well being of people, land degradation, defores tation, des ertification,
malnutrition and migration.
3. Epidemics pos e great threat on development becaus e they need a lot of money for
medicines and kill a lot of people within a s hort period of time.
4. Terroris m negatively affects development s uch as s ecurity and political and economic
s tability. It als o affects people ps ychologically s uch that they live in fear. In addition,
inves tors can not do bus ines s in places experiencing terroris m.
5. Poverty leads to low economic development s ince the poor can not contribute much to
economic development. It is als o as s ociated with high incidents of dis eas es hence
putting a s train on health s ervices .
6. Problem of refugees exerts a lot of pres s ure on different res ources like s ocial s ervices
and natural res ources .
7. Weapons of mas s des truction kill and injure a lot of people thereby exerting pres s ure on
health s ervices .
Factors that contribute to world cooperation
1. Es tablis hment of international organizations like the United Nations makes member
countries to cooperate in dealing with s ome global is s ues and challenges .
2. Economic interdependence in the area of trade makes countries to cooperate in trading
s ys tems . Examples of trade organizations include Common Market for Eas tern and
S outhern S tates (COMES A), World Trade Organization (WTO) and Economic Community
of Wes tern African S tates (ECOWAS ).
3. Ratification of international protocols where each member s tate is s uppos ed to
implement it and as a res ult cooperate on different is s ues in the protocol like the
Convention on the Rights of a Child (CRC).
4. S haring common political ideologies s uch as multiparty or democracy brings cooperation
among countries that practis e it. Cuba and China cooperate becaus e they both practis e
communis m or s ocialis m (the government controls its country’s economic development
through s tate owners hip and that all people are equal and wealth s hould be divided
equally). Other countries practis e capitalis m (a s ys tem in which bus ines s es are owned
and run by individuals and not the government).
Prominent pers onalities that have contributed to world cooperation
1. Martin Luther King J unior – he was born in 1929 and advocated for racial equality in US A
s ince many blacks were facing dis crimination. His civil rights movement reached climax
between 1960 and 1965 when a legis lation or law was pas s ed to end racial s egregation in
public facilities and expand voting rights . He was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
He was as s as s inated in 1968 and is remembered for his fight for jus tice and peace for all
people.
2. Dr Has tings Kamuzu Banda – he was born in Kas ungu, Malawi in 1906 and died on 27th
November, 1997. During his rule as a pres ident he advocated for contact and dialogue
which means dis putes s hould be res olved through dis cus s ion, dialogue, negotiation and
arbitration.
3. Des mond Tutu – he was born on 7th October, 1931 in S outh Africa and grew up in
apartheid S outh Africa. He became the firs t black Anglican Dean of J ohannes burg. He
s pent much of his time fighting for jus tice and racial harmony in S outh Africa and the
whole world. He was chos en as a leader of S outh Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation
Commis s ion by Nels on Mandela at the end of apartheid to deal with what happened
during apartheid. He continues to s peak out agains t injus tice and oppres s ion in the world.
4. Mahatma Gandhi – he was born in 1869 in Wes t India and later got a job in S outh Africa
where he experienced racial dis crimination s o he worked tireles s ly to improve rights of
Indians . He developed a pas s ive (non-violent) res is tance agains t injus tice called
‘S atyagraha’ - a truth force. This made him to be jailed frequently. When he went back to
India in 1915, he advocated for non-violent protes ts agains t the Britis h who ruled India
and religious tolerance between Mus lims and India. He is remembered as a pers on who
promoted non-violence in differences between races or nations . He was as s as s inated in
J anuary, 1948 when he was walking in a crowded garden in New Delhi to take his evening
prayers . Mahatma means ‘great s oul’.
5. Henry Kis s inger – he was born in 1923 in Germany. In 1938, he immigrated with his
family to US A fleeing Nazi tyranny (cruel and unjus t us e of power). He believed that
America s hould change its international relation policy and become friends with many
countries in the world when he was the US S ecretary of S tate under Pres ident Nixon and
Ford. He helped opening up of relations between US A and China and the Middle Eas t. He
is remembered as a great American S tates man who worked hard to promote peace
through friendly relations between countries .
6. Nels on Mandela – he was born in S outh Africa in 1918 and s tarted politics in 1942 when
he joined African National Congres s . He was chos en as vice pres ident in 1952. He
oppos ed the apartheid rule in S outh Africa s ince it did not res pect rights of non-white
races . This led to his arres t in 1964 and s tayed in jail for 27 years . He was releas ed in
1990. After his releas e, he became the ANC pres ident who s till oppos ed apartheid rule. In
1996, he became the firs t black pres ident of multi-racial S outh Africa. He worked tireles s ly
to reconcile different races in S outh Africa. He s igned the country’s new cons titution on
10th December, 1996 which included ending human rights violations . He is remembered
as the greates t human rights activis t and reconciliator.
7. Kwame Nkrumah – he was born in S outh Wes t of Ghana in1909. He went to London in
1939 where he was active in Pan African Movement that demanded freedom and
independence of African colonies . He returned to his homeland in 1947 and became the
s ecretary general of the United Gold Coas t Convention which was advocating for the end
of Britis h rule in Ghana. He was an international s ymbol of freedom becaus e he was the
firs t black leader to s hake off the chains of colonial rule. He died a lonely man in exile
after being removed as a leader in a coup.
8. Leopold S enghor – he was a poet and the pres ident of S enegal between 1960 -1980. He
developed the idea of ‘negritude’ that is all black people, whether African or American
s hould be proud of their heritage (cultural values or achievements ).
International interventions to promote and pres erve world cooperation
1. The United Nations – it promotes peace and s ecurity. It achieves international
cooperation by s olving international problems of economy, s ocial, culture and
humanitarian.
2. The Organization of African Unity (OAU) – it was es tablis hed on 25th May, 1963 in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia and the charter of the organization was s igned by 32 independent s tates .
It mainly aimed at a need to free Africa from colonialis m. Its objectives include:

a. Promote unity and s olidarity of African s tates .
b. Coordinate and intens ify their cooperation to achieve a better life for Africans .
c. Defend s overeignty, territorial integrity and independence.
d. Eradicate all forms of colonialis m in Africa.
e. Promote international cooperation in regard to the charter of the United Nations
and the Univers al Declaration of Human Rights .
It held its final s ummit in J uly, 2001 in Lus aka, Zambia where it announced a decis ion of
trans forming OAU to African Union (AU). Amara Es s y of Ivory Coas t was chos en as a
leader during its trans ition from OAU to AU. Currently, it has 53 African s tates .
3. The As s ociation of S outh Eas t As ian Nations (AS EAN) – it was founded on 8th Augus t,
1967 by five countries namely: Indones ia, Malays ia, The Philippines , S ingapore and
Thailand. It is mainly aimed at bringing all countries in S E As ia to cooperate in s ecuring
peace, s tability and development. Its s ecretariat is in J akarta, Indones ia and the following
are current members : Indones ia, Malays ia, The Philippines , S ingapore, Thailand, Brunei,
Vietnam, Myanma, Laos and Cambodia.
Its main aims include:
 Promotes political and s ecurity cooperation.
 Promotes cooperation on is s ues s uch as human res ource development, elimination
of poverty, dis eas es and illiteracy, providing productive jobs for low income groups ,
taking a s trong action to end abus e and traffic in drugs . Cooperation in thes e fields
is known as ‘Functional ‘by the AS EAN leaders .
Importance of world cooperation
1. Promotes peace becaus e when conflict aris es between countries , they s olve thes e with
diplomacy.
2. Accelerating development becaus e there is peace and that s ome trade organizations
eliminate trade barriers and tariffs .
3. Promotes harmony between people of different cultures , nationalities and racial
backgrounds .
4. Promotes s ocial jus tice.
S AMPLE ES S AY QUES TIONS

2003 NATIONAL EXAMINATIONS
1. Explain the factors that influence s ocial and economic development in a country.(20
marks )
2. Dis cus s the importance of removing gender bias es in the s ociety. (20 marks )
3. Des cribe how the electoral commis s ion ens ures that the electoral proces s is held in a free
and fair atmos phere. (20 marks )
1. Dis cus s the common characteris tics of developing nations . (20 marks )
2. Explain the factors that may as s is t to prevent marriage breakdown in Malawi. (20 marks )
3. Dis cus s the pos itive effects of globalization of the economy on development. (20 marks )
1. Explain the impact of drug and s ubs tance abus e on development. (20 marks )
2. Des cribe any five ins titutions that can be ins trumental in promoting good governance in
Malawi. (20 marks )

3. Explain the effects of refugee problem in the world. (20 marks )
1. Explain with examples any s ix effects of s ocial injus tice in s ociety. (20 marks )
2. Dis cus s any s ix factors that can contribute to population change in a country. (20 marks )
3. Explain with examples any s ix ways in which rights of s pecial groups can be violated. (20
marks )
1. Dis cus s any s ix factors that can contribute to dis crimination in a country. (20 marks )
2. Des cribe any s ix roles of financial ins titutions to the development of a country. (20 marks )
3. Dis cus s any s ix ways that Malawi can us e to achieve gender balance. (20 marks )
1. Explain any s ix caus es of s ocial injus tice in the s ociety. (20 marks )
2. Explain any s ix ways in which war between two neighbouring countries may affect
development in the countries . (20 marks )
3. Explain any s ix ways in which couns elling for HIV/ AIDS patients and guardians is
important. (20 marks )
1. Dis cus s any s ix factors that can contribute to technological development in a country. (20
marks )
2. Explain any s ix factors that s hould be cons idered when providing s ocial s ervices to the
community. (20 marks )
3. Des cribe any s ix roles played by ins titutions of the civil s ociety in a country. (20 marks )
1. Explain any s ix roles played by the s tate. (20 marks )
2. Dis cus s any s ix s trategies that are us ed to pres erve culture in Malawi. (20 marks )
3. Explain any s ix ways in which promotion of s ocial jus tice is important in the world. (20
marks )
1. Explain any s ix problems faced in the implementation of conventions for the protection of
s pecial groups . (20 marks )
2. Des cribe any s ix s ocial and ethical values that contribute to international cooperation. (20
marks )
3. Explain any s ix factors that can as s is t in the economic development of a country. (20
marks )
1. Dis cus s any s ix cas es of violations of human rights for s pecial groups . (20 marks )
2. Explain any s ix ways in which developing countries benefit from international
organizations . (20 marks )
3. Dis cus s any s ix factors that encourage multiculturalis m in a country. (20 marks )

Social Studies Form 3

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Social Studies Form 3

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

SOCIAL AND DEVELOPMENT

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

INDICATORS OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967

FELIX LISAUSYO +265998518967