ONE connects thousands of ordinary Malawians with UN team working on the Post-2015 Development Agenda

LILONGWE, Malawi – The ONE Campaign’s survey of nearly 30,000 people from a cross-section of society in Malawi has found that the top priority among young people is the need for better job opportunities. Malawians under 30 also believe an honest and responsible government should be an important priority.

Among all age groups and geographical areas, the issue of honest and responsive government was cited as the top concern for Malawians. Other high priorities are better healthcare, schools and infrastructure. Notably, young people in Malawi also urged leaders to tackle the issues of climate change and gender equality.

About half of Malawians participated in the You Choose campaign by sending SMS text messages to ONE, while others took part in Youth Consultative Forums (YCF) and village assemblies in rural areas. The data was collected between March and June 2013 as a complimentary effort to the United Nations My World global survey.

ONE has since presented these preliminary findings to the High-Level Panel (HLP) of Eminent Persons commissioned by the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, to recommend an achievable framework for the world’s post-2015 development agenda.

The HLP has since submitted its report to the UN Secretary General, outlining its vision for the next set of global development goals, which includes many of the priorities identified by You Choose participants. Malawians’ priorities for better job opportunities, an honest and responsible government, better healthcare and improved education are prominently reflected in the report. The post 2015 development agenda will be shaped and finalized over the coming two years as member states convene to deliberate and come to an agreement on the details of the framework.

Later this month, ONE will also release findings from the You Choose surveys conducted in Zambia and South Africa.

Dr. Sipho Moyo, ONE Africa Director said:

“We submitted the hard data that we collected regarding citizens’ real concerns and development priorities to the UN High Level Panel tasked with setting the new development agenda, and we are pleased that the voices of Africa Citizens were heard.

The panel recognized that it is vital that the needs and desires of the world’s poorest, many of which are Africans, are placed at the heart of a new development agenda. Efforts such as You Choose will ensure that the post-2015 MDGs are the peoples’ MDGs, not MDGs from the UN, governments or NGOs.

It is now up to our governments to turn the aspirations of their citizens into actionable programs that will achieve enduring socio-economic transformation and virtually end extreme poverty by 2030.”

In Malawi, ONE worked with a number of partners including: the Council for Non-Governmental Organizations in Malawi (CONGOMA); the Malawi Council of Churches; the Youth Consultative Forum; and the Malawi Savings Bank (MSB). The effort was also supported by celebrities Winiko and Dan Lu who played a key role in urging citizens to participate.

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Notes to Editors

1. The HLP Report to the UN Secretary General underscored that creating good and decent jobs is essential for inclusive growth and will help ensure reductions in poverty and inequality. In a welcome move, the report also puts forward a separate goal on governance and recognises transparency and accountability as critical drivers of effective institutions. Additionally, the HLP has proposed goals for healthcare and education that place emphasis on quality improvements. The HLP vision report was issued on May 30 and is available here.

2. The survey results show that Malawian citizens want their leaders to promote an honest and responsive government, good education and better healthcare.  Specific qualitative findings include:

• Of the 14,948 mobile-based submissions, the top five Malawian priorities are:

a)     An Honest and Responsible government (14%)

b)     Affordable and Nutritious Food (11%)

c)     Better Healthcare (10%)

d)     A Good Education (10%)

e)     Better Job Opportunities (9%)

• The Youth Consultative Forum (YCF) surveyed young people below 30 years old between the March 8 and 13, 2013. A total of 14,789 entries and views were recorded from across the country. The top priorities selected were:

a)     Better Job Opportunities (9%)

b)     An Honest And Responsive Government (9%)

c)     A Good Education (9%)

d)     Better Healthcare (9%)

e)     Action Taken On Climate Change (8%)

f)      Equality Between Men And Women (8%)

3. Additionally, ONE conducted focus groups in four rural villages to ensure the survey included the voices of Malawians without Internet, mobile phone and radio access. The top priorities that emerged in the qualitative research echoed the top concerns of wanting honest and responsive government, better healthcare and job opportunities.  Specific comments included:

• On corruption, participants felt very strongly that corruption was the main reason they were poor, as bribes were seen as the only way get government services, to get a job, or to get free medicine. They also noted that even when local or donor funds are available, development projects are either not delivered or only partially delivered.

“You cannot get medicine when you go to the hospital but you will see those who have money coming out of the same hospital with bundles of medicines. You will even find the same government medicine in the market but they will tell you it is not available at the hospital. How does that happen? Corruption. You even need to pay someone to get a job so that you can start getting paid, what chance is there for a poor person like me?” — Youth, Nkhotakota

• On the lack of medical facilities, participants in the village assemblies worried the most about the long distances they have to walk in order to get to the nearest medical facility.

“If I have malaria, I stay home until I get better because the distance to the clinic is too far. When I do not get well and start feeling worse, I cannot go (to the hospital) because I am too sick to walk. And when it gets even worse than that they will carry me and we all know what that means. I will not come back.” — Male participant, Nkhata Bay

• On employment, better job opportunities also featured highly, especially amongst the men and the youth. In particular, the participants wanted government to place emphasis on job creation in their local communities.

“There is a local factory, here, which was supposed to be operational by now but nothing is happening because there is no electricity. Government must do something to make sure that they bring electricity to rural areas so that we can have factories like these where we can get jobs.”  — Youth participant, Mulanje

About ONE

ONE is a campaigning and advocacy organization of more than 3 million people taking action to end extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. Co-founded by Bono and strictly non-partisan, we raise public awareness and work with political leaders to combat AIDS and preventable diseases, increase investments in agriculture and nutrition, and demand greater transparency in poverty-fighting programs.

ONE is not a grant-making organization and does not solicit funding from the public or receive government funding. ONE is funded almost entirely by a handful of philanthropists and foundations. We achieve change through advocacy. Our teams in Washington, D.C., London, Johannesburg, Brussels, Berlin, and Paris educate and lobby governments to shape policy solutions that save and improve millions of lives. To learn more, go to ONE.org.