The Centre for Human Rights of the University of Pretoria and Youth and Society (YAS), invites you to a webinar on the state of Access to Information (ATI) in Malawi. The webinar seeks to assess Malawi’s compliance with the international human rights practices on the right of access to information and to provide a platform for stakeholders working in the ATI sector to share insights on the implementation of Malawi’s Access to Information Act.
The discussion will also analyse the gains, opportunities, gaps and recommendations for enhancing the access to information landscape in Malawi. The event is part of the commemoration of 10 Years of the Model Law on Access to Information for Africa that was adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in 2013.
Mandy Pondani has about eight years of Media experience from the newsroom and media
consultancy. She has a proven track record from similar roles with Mary’s Meals and from
the Ministry of Labour and Education respectively. Mandy is the current Vice Chairperson of
the Media Institute for Southern Africa (Misa) Malawi. She is a Trainer of Trainers for Gender
Equity and Media Safety certified by the International Federation of Journalists. Among other
credentials, she holds a Master’s Degree in International Communication, Bachelor’s Degree
in Journalism and a Professional Certificate in Media Management from WanIfra’s Women in
News Program.
Ms Mwandida Theu
Youth and Society (YAS)
Mwandida Theu holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Rights from University of Livingstonia. She is pursuing a Masters’ degree in Transformative Community Development at Mzuzu University. She is currently a Program Coordinator for Human Rights and Civil Society Strengthening at Youth and Society (YAS), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) that exists to promote and defend human rights and democratic governance in Malawi in the principal interest of young people and marginalised groups. She is a human rights activist with an interest in Human rights, governance, Anti-corruption and rule of law, civic space, digital rights and advocacy.
Mr Chance Kalolokeska
Malawi Human Rights Commission
Chance is the Deputy Director for Civil and
Political Rights and Head of the Access to
Information Unit at the Malawi Human
Rights Commission. Malawi Human Rights
Commission is a National Human Rights
Institution with the Constitutional mandate
of protecting and promoting human rights in
Malawi. In addition, the Commission is
responsible for overseeing the
implementation of the Access to Information
Act in Malawi.
Chance is a former Rotary Peace Fellow (2018-2019) who studied MA Peace, Conflict and Development at the University of Bradford, UK.
Mr Authur Chipenda
Ministry of Information and Digitisation
Arthur Chipenda is a media, information and communications expert currently working for
the Ministry of Information and Digitalisation in Malawi as Deputy Director of Information and
also managing implementation of Access to Information Act in the Ministry. He holds a
Bachelor of Art (Journalism) degree from University of Malawi, and he is currently studying
for a Master of Arts in ICT Policy and Regulation.
For more information, please contact:
Hlengiwe Dube
Manager: Expression, Information and Digital Rights Unit