Article | Policy Brief on Malawi's Female Genital Mutilation and Maternal Mortality

 By Eddlynn Jennifer Mangaoang

Written December 23, 2021

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Executive Summary

In 2017, the maternal mortality ratio in Malawi is 349 deaths per 100, 000 live births - five times higher than the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals Target 3.1 which is less than 70 per 100, 000 live births by 2030 [1][2]. The country reports no data on female genital mutilation (FGM), but a study found that the procedure is secretly rampant in the south. This makes it harder to achieve UN SDG Target 5.3 "eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation" [3]. This document gives attention to the secret FGM procedures in the south, their importance and connection to maternal mortality, and the policies and actions the government of Malawi must undertake to resolve this problem. This document is directed at the ministers and local government politicians and stakeholders of Malawi. 

PDF | Policy Brief Malawi: Maternal Mortality and the Secret Female Genital Mutilation in the South

The executive summary for the policy brief is written in this article, but the policy brief itself is accessed through the link.

When I wrote this policy brief, it was about a week, definitely less than two weeks its due date. This was the finalized version. Truthfully, I thought the version before this one was my finalized version, but through class discussions, I found that I was missing a vital piece, and that's the "Making a Case" section. I already have it written in the piece itself, but because I didn't put a subheading, most of the critics (which were my classmates) found my policy brief incomplete. 

It was my first time writing one. I was so bummed out because I didn't know where to start. When I chose Malawi - Maternal Mortality, I thought it would be easy - easier than the other options, but it was actually very hard because there were no sufficient literary papers out there. It was particularly hard to look into successful policies from other countries that might work for Malawi. I really had no idea what to do. 

I asked a friend who took the class before how he did the paper, and he shared his finalized paper with me. It was certainly very helpful. We had different countries and different health indicators, but I learned how to create a good flow for my policy brief from his. Although I agonized about this assignment a lot, I felt it was one of the most enjoyable projects/assignments I did in the semester. I certainly was proud of it. My professor asked me if she could use it as an example for her future classes, and who am I to say no? I definitely would love other students to use it as an example. 

A tip when writing a policy brief for your class: don't just look at policies, look at programs as well. In addition, don't only look at the country you picked, look at its neighboring countries - what policies/programs worked well in those countries that could work in your country. And don't limit yourself to your health indicator. For me, it was really hard to find information for maternal mortality in Malawi and even their MMR was not a recent/current one, so I looked into FGM because it was one of the causes of maternal mortality that was prevalent in Africa and certainly there were other African countries trying and successfully ended it. 

As mentioned in the executive summary, the Malawi government did not report any FGM activities in their country, but I read from two to three sources that it was happening in the south of the country. The policy brief was aimed at that particular area, but also to make awareness to the whole country. 

It was certainly a great assignment to assign to students. 

NOTE: The Policy Brief project was for my Global Health class. I believe permission for PDF access is required.