Precinct Fellow Hosts Stakeholders' Conference on Public Sector Reforms in Malawi

Youth and Society (YAS) in partnership with the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP – Diocese of Mzuzu), and Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) on May 26, 2016 hosted a stakeholders dialogue on Public Sector Reform Program under implementation by the Government of Malawi. Charles Kajoloweka, a Precinct YALI 2015 Fellow, serves as Executive Director of YAS.

Dubbed Civil Society-Government Dialogue on Public Sector Reforms, the conference was aimed at providing a critical engagement and learning platform on public sector reforms among civil society actors and the Government of Malawi through the Public Sector Reforms department. At the conference, government and civil society actors shared key information, knowledge, and best practices on the current public reforms through presentations and discussions. Further, the conference also explored the space and role of the civil society in the current reform agenda. The conference brought together more than 60 stakeholders largely from civil society, the Public Service Reforms Commission, private sector, academia, and citizens.

The Conference was held under the theme: The Role of Civil Society in Public Sector Reforms Program: Enhancing People-Centred Reforms.  The reforms team was led by Chief Director in the Office of the Vice President, the head of Public Sector Reforms. The conference received logistical support from the American Embassy in Malawi, and the Malawi government’s Public Sector Reforms office.

Speaking at the official opening of the conference, Executive Director of YAS, and YALI Fellow Mr. Charles Kajoloweka, called for continued dialogue among various stakeholders and the Government on the public reforms. “I want to commend this conscious collaboration between civil society and Government to engage on reforms. It gives us all a sense of belonging. This dialogue must be encouraged”, he said.  He also hinted that for the reform program to yield positives results, the reform process ought to be inclusive, transparent and those in charge should be accountable to the public. “There is no gainsaying to point out that, there seem to be a notable gulf in the implementation and how citizens and civil society actors participate in the reforms implementation. We need to enhance meaningful civil society participation in the affairs of the Public Sector Reform Program let alone that of citizens”, he said.

The Conference among others achieved the following specific targets:

• Enhanced understanding and knowledge of Public Sector Reform Program among 60 Civil Society Actors and other stakeholders.
• Government of Malawi received civil society feedback on current public reforms with rational reflections, interrogation and assessment of the effectiveness of reforms under implementation.
• Enhanced debate on public reform issues among civil society players, government and citizens.
• Road-map on civil society’s role in the reform agenda was drawn.

The Government of Malawi is currently implementing the Public Sector Reform Program (PSRP) in a bid to transform the country’s public sector to become more professional, effective, efficient, accountable and ready to meet current and future challenges of the country. The PSRP is seen as a direct government’s response towards addressing abject poverty among its citizens. The reform program is steered by an eight member Commission chaired by the country’s Vice President, Dr. Saulos Klaus Chilima.

Youth and Society (YAS) has established that there is a huge gap in the PSRP implementation, particularly in how citizens and civil society actors participate in its implementation. Largely, there has been lack of meaningful civil society participation in the affairs of the PSRP processes let alone that of citizens. This has inter alia resulted into notable accountability, transparency and responsiveness queries in PSRP implementation.