In an effort to train and develop more young men and women in the health sector, the University of Malawi's Kamuzu College of Nursing is offering a new programme, a Master of Science degree in reproductive health.

Malawi has struggled with a shortage of health professionals. The new course is aimed at reducing the shortage of such professionals.The two-year programme includes courses on family planning, STI and AIDs, reproductive cancers, and maternal and neonatal health.

KCN Principal Address Malata says there is need for more people in the field of health. He says the programme should reduce the brain drain in the country since many professionals who were sent out of the country to study chose not to return.

"Our aim is to promote the health of the people. We want to have sufficient health personnel in the country. This programme has been created in response to the needs of our society," Malata said.

The Malawi government has stepped in once again to support its HIV/AIDS positive civil servants, after it stopped a previous support programme in 2009.

The Malawi government is set to re-introduce the K5,000 monthly allowance to civil servants with low immunity due to the effects of HIV. The move demonstrates the government's seriousness to offer support to HIV/AIDS employees who are facing several challenges, the largest of these being discrimination.

Department of Nutrition and HIV/AIDS principal secretary Mary Shawa says it is important that the guidelines for the utilisation of the budget be fulfilled. The guidelines state that support to the infected person can either be provision of the K5,000 or nutrition supplements or a combination of both, as long as it does not exceed the institutional entitlement per person per month.

"There was massive abuse when it was first introduced. Some people would claim it and use it to buy alcohol. It was stopped so that guidelines could be established," Shawa said.

As such, those who will access the K5,000 allowance should have a CD4 count of 350 or less, declare their HIV status, be on antiretroviral therapy (ART) and they must show clinical signs of malnutrition such as wasting.

The K5,000 support will however be withdrawn when the CD4 count has reached above 500.

Several companies in Malawi have established workplace policies to combat discrimination against HIV/AIDS employees. Ministries and the private sector have been advised to use the guidelines for the HIV/AIDS budget commitment for prevention and behaviour change, treatment care and support and impact mitigation. There are 78 government and private sector institutions with workplace programmes who will make use of the guidelines.

In Malawi the number of women in parliament is still small compared to men.

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By Sam Banda Jnr

In December 2009 the Malawi government announced reforms to certain civil servants' pensions, abolishing the controversial three year averaging method of calculating pensions and gratuity.

The issue of pensions has been a serious problem affecting many employees.

Civil Servants Trade Union (CSTU) President Elia Kamphinda Banda welcomed the measures and said that this would see civil servants going home with a better package.

Civil servants are those employees who work for government institutions in Malawi.

The statement from the Office of the President and Cabinet in the Capital City, Lilongwe also said that the discount rate used in the computation of gratuity had been reduced from 4 to 2 percent.

The strikes forced many institutions to halt their operations, and some made losses. 

Some of the institutions which experienced strike action included Universal Industries, Shoprite and Game Stores. 

Most of the strikes resulted in intervention from the Ministry of Labour. 

Shoprite reacted to the strike by firing all 80 workers at its main shop in the Capital City, Lilongwe, before re-instating them following negotiations with the Minister of Labour.  The workers protested against a 15 percent salary increment which they said was lower than the 85 percent increment they had asked for. 

Shortage of fuel, especially diesel, has hit Malawi hard over the past few weeks.

Whilst this problem has affected everyone, women are particularly feeling the pinch in terms of getting to work very late.

Minibuses which are currently moving are the ones running on petrol, and women are battling every morning to get to work on time.

Chipiliro Kansilanga is a young journalist working for Blantyre Newspapers, who says the fuel shortage has brought about transport problems.

"For instance you have to wait for the bus for hours and by the time you jump into one, you are already late for work. Some have had to face the wrath of the bosses," says Kansilanga.

The Malawi government has assured the country that the problem will be solved, but so far it is continuing and it is not yet known when the situation will normalise.

In Malawi, while the agricultural sector represents 36% of the GDP and accounts for over 80% of the labour force, especially in the tobacco industry, the fields of tourism, business, retail, accounting and IT all offer opportunities in the city centres. These are jobs which require special skills - ranging from good communication skills to having a head for figures to a love for travel - and they all offer the chance for young women to get ahead, to find job satisfaction and to be economically independent. 

Mywage Malawi has a range of information on career options that give free information on salaries, qualifications, training and more. Read our Women and Careers section to find out more.

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Eight Southern African websites of the WageIndicator project were officially launched in September 2009. Simultaneously the South Africa WageIndicator got an upgraded salary check, making it much more attractive for visitors to check their wages. The target is to reach half a million visitors in one year time. Local teams make sure that the content of the sites is fit for the audiences in each specific country. Known as Mywage in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi, and Meusalario in Angola and Mocambique, the websites feature unique content about wages, working conditions, labour standards and other work-related topics. There is a strong gender emphasis in much of the content. Significantly, each site also hosts various web tools which provide information on occupation-specific wages, as well as checks relating to work/partner balance, minimum wages and the current economic crisis. “There is a definite need for this sort of information in my country. We look at what people want to know, in relation to the workplace, and we supply it,” says Sanday Chongo Kabange, Web Manager of Mywage Zambia. “We go out and speak to people, and we follow what is happening in the labour market.”