Four new settlements have been visited in Area 25A and Area 49. Once again, we witnessed encouraging results from the Equal Land Rights For All 2013 project and we were told really interesting stories from women trying to get their land registered.

These stories provided significant aspects to be considered for the project. Thank to the interviews, we can understand the main challenges women are facing through the registration process. I did my best to tell these stories through the photographic work that will be completed by the end of this week and exhibited during the Run4Rights 2014.

Still with regard to the outcomes, we are currently carrying out a study aiming at providing a more accurate measure of the project’s impacts: local chiefs from the 33 settlements where LUPPEN has members have been asked to report the number of women who have successfully registered their land with the chief or the City Council. Cases in process will also be reported. It is an ambitious and difficult task given the laziness of some chiefs… but it would definitely help get a better overview of the full impact.

Tomorrow, we are heading off to Chingwirizano and Chinsapo in the south of Lilongwe. Thanks a lot for following and supporting MUD Africa! / Pierre

In what was a week of hectic activity, I visited with LUPPEN and Action Aid three settlements in Lilongwe. Some achievements of the Equal Land Rights For All project have been witnessed which is highly encouraging for the rest!

In Makatani, a small poor settlement, we saw how well are the trainings working: several women have been taught about land rights by trainers who attended the trainings of trainers (TOT) led by MUD Africa. Likewise, we went back to Kauma, a settlement of 50,000 and in Area/36 where some women have successfully registered their houses with the local chiefs. In each case the knowledge has then been widely shared within the community; some registrations are in progress, which is good news though the soaring urbanisation of Lilongwe shows how tough the challenge is.

I have also had the opportunity to attend the second Urban_net forum at Action Aid’s office where Water Mission International and Sunny Money (solar lights) made two interesting presentations tackling important urban issues.

We will carry on the fieldwork next week, always a pleasure given the friendliness of the Malawian people…

Cheers/ Pierre