ABSTRACT
Malawian women are generally worse off than their male counterparts in almost all spheres of health, social, and economic life. As one of the world's poorest countries, Malawi ranks low on several international development and gender indicators. As an agriculturally-based economy, Malawi's uniqueness lies in its overwhelming reliance on land for food provision. Malawi faces a heterosexual HIV epidemic with one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world. Women are at the epicentre of Malawi's HIV epidemic, with the highest risk occurring among young women, mostly through heterosexual transmission. Gendered structures of power that underscore women's vulnerability to maternal mortality and morbidity (MMM) and HIV are not always fully understood and as a result, responses often fail to effectively engage the gender context. This explains why the overarching goal of gender empowerment and transformation was not mainstreamed in all the Millennium Development Goals.
