Introduction

In 2025, the Malawi Electoral Support Project strengthened election management systems, expanded access to civic and voter education, promoted the participation of women and young people, enhanced election security, and supported real-time monitoring of electoral risks and misinformation. During January-June 2026, the project consolidated these gains through support to the March 2026 by-elections, an inclusive post-election review, reform-oriented dialogue, stronger national ownership of early-warning and fact-checking systems, and continued work to advance inclusive political participation.

PART I: KEY ACHIEVEMENTS DELIVERED IN 2025

1. Secure and transparent election management

• Operationalised Primary and Secondary Data Centres to strengthen the security, resilience and management of electoral data.
• Established a fully functional Election Call Centre, providing citizens with access to verified electoral information and a channel for reporting concerns during the election period.
• Supported the redesign of the Malawi Electoral Commission website to improve access to timely, user-friendly and transparent election information.
• Revised MEC's Information Security Policy and trained 23 senior managers in cybersecurity governance and risk management.
• Strengthened the protection of election results systems through the deployment of network security tools and targeted technical support.

2. Expanded civic and voter education

• Reached an estimated 8.69 million potential voters through community engagement, radio, digital platforms, schools, sports activities and faith networks.
• Engaged 250 young people through the National Youth Summit, with more than 300,000 people reached through online participation and coverage.
• Supported the launch of the National Youth Manifesto 2025-2030 and established a Youth Policy Dialogue Forum to sustain youth participation in public decision-making.

3. Advanced women's participation and inclusive elections

• Trained 152 women aspirants, including 50 parliamentary and 102 local council candidates, in campaign and political leadership skills.
• Secured public endorsement of the Women's Manifesto by five presidential candidates.
• Established two cross-party platforms, the Women's Forum and the Senior Managers' Forum, to support dialogue and coordination.
• Trained 180 election monitors to identify inclusion barriers and capture gender-related electoral dynamics.
• Trained 75 district monitors to promote inclusive polling and help protect women's participation in the electoral process.

4. Strengthened electoral dispute resolution and political dialogue

• Trained 18 national mediators in election mediation, creating a pool of facilitators able to strengthen mediation capacity at national and local levels.
• Reached 450 participants across 10 conflict-prone districts with practical skills in dialogue, negotiation and early conflict resolution.
• Engaged 240 political party officials through regional peace and dialogue sessions.
• Trained 341 political party election monitors, including 149 women, in polling procedures, results management and dispute resolution.
•  Supported a landmark Judicial Conference on election technology and the launch of Malawi Electoral Law Reports, Volumes I and II, to strengthen judicial preparedness and consistency in electoral decision-making.

5. Improved election security and police responsiveness

• Trained 3,625 police officers, including 625 women, in public order management, human rights and election security.
• Distributed more than 3,000 Public Order Management Guidelines nationwide to promote consistent and rights-based election security.
• Operationalised seven Joint Operations Centres to strengthen real-time coordination and response during the elections.
• Reduced average police response time from 45 minutes to 18 minutes, representing a 60 per cent improvement.

6. Strengthened real-time election monitoring and information integrity

• Established an operational, technology-enabled Election Situation Room to support nationwide incident reporting, verification and coordinated response.
• Trained and deployed 509 roving observers, enabling real-time monitoring and coverage across all wards.
• Officially launched iVerify Malawi to counter election-related misinformation and strengthen public access to verified information.
• Published more than 120 verified fact-checks during the electoral period.
• Trained 15 MISA Malawi staff in digital verification and ethical fact-checking.
• Conducted district interface sessions and nine community dialogues to strengthen media literacy and community resilience against misinformation.

7. Supported safer political participation for women

• Recorded a reduction in reported violence against women in elections and politics cases from 133 in 2019 to 43 in 2025.
• Established two Gender and Inclusion Desks within the Malawi Police Service Command Centre and the Election Situation Room.
• Trained 51 first responders in survivor-centred case handling and referral.
• Reached 1,551 stakeholders through the National Anti-VAWE/P Campaign.
• Trained 108 traditional and Area Development Committee leaders to promote safer and more inclusive political spaces for women.

PART II: ACHIEVEMENTS AND PROGRESS, JANUARY-JUNE 2026

The achievements below include completed results and clearly identified progress milestones reported during the first half of 2026.

8. Supported credible and secure 2026 by-elections

• Delivered the planned technical and operational support for the 17 March 2026 by-elections through a Mini Election Situation Room, which monitored polling-material readiness, staffing and emerging issues.
• Applied an updated Election Security Framework across four parliamentary constituencies and nine local government wards, achieving 100% security coverage.
• Completed systematic observation of the by-elections, capturing election-day data, international observer presence and political party-agent participation to support reporting and future improvements.

9. Completed inclusive post-election review consultations

• Engaged one international and one national expert to guide the design and implementation of the post-election review process.
• Completed all planned thematic consultations, engaging close to 400 participants across electoral administration, security, legal affairs, technology, political parties, inclusion and accountability.
• Generated evidence and lessons to inform electoral administrative and legal reforms, as well as MEC's Election Operational Plan for 2026-2030.

10. Advanced electoral legal, administrative and political party reforms

• Convened a dedicated legal reform consultation involving the Judiciary Committee on Elections, the Law Society of Malawi, the Malawi Law Commission, the Political Science Association, the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, and Parliament, generating preliminary reform observations for the final post-election review report.
•  Initiated a joint technical deep-dive on political party institutionalisation with the Centre for Multiparty Democracy, the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties and technical experts.
• Convened a two-day consultation with registered political parties, CMD and ORPP on party compliance, campaign finance and gender-responsive political party reform.
• Delivered joint oversight and behavioural monitoring of political parties during the March 2026 by-elections, while sustaining CMD's role as a platform for inter-party dialogue.

11. Strengthened election security institutions and long-term planning

• Conducted grassroots security reviews and after-action consultations based on the 2025 General Elections, generating operational lessons for future election security management.
• Advanced the Five-Year National Policing Strategic Plan 2026-2030 through approval by Police Senior Management and final review by the Police High Command.
• Continued development of policies and procedures for the investigation and prosecution of electoral offences through a dedicated Malawi Police Service task team.

12. Advanced inclusive political participation

• Developed a consolidated electoral reform position aimed at strengthening women's and young people's political participation as a contribution to the post-election review process.
• Launched a comprehensive study on the political participation of women, youth, older persons, persons with disabilities and persons with albinism, with a consultant engaged and the initial desk review completed.
• Began targeted technical guidance for female and youth Members of Parliament through the Parliamentary Women's Caucus to help sustain representation and democratic gains.
• Identified strategic priorities for inclusive political reform through collaborative engagement under the emerging Cross-Party Women's Forum.

13. Institutionalised early-warning and fact-checking systems

• Completed the hosting and technical transition of the iVerify and iReport platforms to national counterparts, enabling continued operation under national ownership during the by-election period.
• Integrated AI-powered content verification and analytics into the iVerify and iReport platforms to strengthen real-time detection and analysis of misinformation and disinformation.
• Strengthened coordination among NICE, the Malawi Peace and Unity Commission, the Malawi Police Service, MISA and civil society actors on early warning, conflict prevention and response.
• Improved national preparedness to manage future electoral cycles through the transfer of systems, protocols, operational knowledge and institutional responsibility.

14. Strengthened project governance and accountability

• Convened five high-level Technical Committee engagements and one Steering Committee meeting to strengthen oversight, coordination and implementation accountability.
• Resolved key Annual Work Plan and budget-alignment issues, enabling approval of the 2026 Annual Work Plan by the Steering Committee on 26 March 2026.
• Continued to draw on Technical Committee guidance for the post-election review and the planned end-of-project evaluation.