A Community Finds Its Voice: Martha Banda’s Story
Martha Banda was a community activist trained through the PKN project in TA Kalembo. Before the project, she felt she had no voice. After training, she began talking to other women about their rights. Her advocacy reached so far that local chiefs started listening. Martha's story matters because it shows a real shift in power. A woman who once felt invisible became a trusted voice in her community. This is the kind of change that outlasts any single project.
Learn more Disability Does Not Mean Silence: Chikondi Mbewe’s Story
Chikondi Mbewe has a visual impairment. She completed Gender Transformative Curriculum (GTC) training as a facilitator. She described the training as proof that people with disabilities deserve safety and have a right to speak. This story is significant for a disability rights organisation. It shows that WAG's work reaches people who face multiple layers of marginalisation. Chikondi's words also make a powerful case for inclusive programme design.
Learn more From A Handful Of Members To A Continental Coalition
In 2020, WAG attended the AWID Forum in Brazil with Mama Cash support. The team hosted a disability hub and presented a session. New members from Zambia, Algeria, Nigeria, and Cameroon joined the coalition as a result. WAG also made contact with new funders, including the African Women's Development Fund and the Disability Rights Fund. Starting with limited reach and a small membership, WAG used one international event to build a network spanning several countries and funding relationships.
Learn more Duty Bearers Change Their Attitudes
Through the EmpowerHer project, WAG worked with frontline service providers including nurses, police, gender officers, and child protection workers. By the end of 2024, these duty bearers were actively changing how they work with people with disabilities. Parents and caregivers also shifted. Many began encouraging their children with disabilities to take part in community life. This is a meaningful result. Changing attitudes among the people who hold power over others is what creates lasting protection for women and girls with disabilities.
Learn more PKN Reaches Over 34,000 People
In 2024, the PKN project directly reached more than 14,000 people through awareness sessions, community campaigns, and training. An additional 20,000 were reached indirectly through radio campaigns and partner work. The project trained 288 Community Activists, 125 Community Leaders, and 350 frontline service providers. These numbers reflect more than activity. They reflect a systematic effort to shift norms around gender-based violence across two districts. Few Malawian NGOs of WAG's size can demonstrate outreach at this scale.
Learn more Women-led Research Into Violence Against Women Wth Disabilities
WAG partnered with SDDirect to conduct formative research across 16 communities in Lilongwe. The research team of 10 data collectors was made up of eight women, six of whom have disabilities. This was a deliberate choice. The research was about women with disabilities, so women with disabilities led it. The team completed 142 interviews across rural and peri-urban communities. The research will provide evidence to improve how programmes prevent and respond to violence. It is also proof that women with disabilities can lead complex research work, not just be the subject of it.
Learn more Building the Systems That Make an Organisation Last
When WAG first applied to Mama Cash in 2020, it had no financial system, no organisational audit, and no strategic plan. By the time the grant period ended, all three were in place. The finance team developed stronger reporting and management skills. An audit was completed. A fundraising plan was created. These are not glamorous achievements. But they are the foundation on which everything else is built. An organisation that cannot manage money or plan strategically cannot sustain its programmes. WAG built those systems, and they have enabled every success that followed.
Learn more Signing a Formal Agreement With the Malawi Police Service
In 2024, WAG signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Malawi Police Service. This was part of the PKN project's response work. The MOU formalised the relationship between WAG and police on gender-based violence case management. Getting a formal agreement with a government institution is hard for any NGO, and harder still for a small disability rights organisation. It signals that WAG is taken seriously as a partner. It also creates accountability. Police units are now formally committed to working with WAG on GBV response, which means survivors have a clearer path to justice.
Learn more Winning Two Major Grants in a Single Year
In 2024, WAG successfully secured funding from two separate donors. The FCDO-funded PKN project was won in partnership with WORLEC and GENET. The EmpowerHer grant from Kynnys ry was also secured and implemented in the same year. This is a significant result for an organisation of WAG's size, operating in a difficult economic environment marked by currency devaluation and inflation. Winning competitive funding requires strong proposals, credible track records, and trusted relationships with partners. Doing it twice in one year reflects just how far WAG has come as an organisation since its founding in 2015.
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