Nice Malawi

Vision

“A well informed, empowered, responsive and transformed Malawian society that actively participates in public life.”

Mission

NICE is a Public Trust committed to deepening democracy and good governance among Malawians through provision of civic and voter education, community empowerment and mobilisation, knowledge management and networking.

Purpose

To enhance the ability of Malawian citizens (including disadvantaged groups) to participate in public life, and to encourage them to exercise their democratic rights and responsibilities, as well as to participate in the democratic decision-making process at community, district and national levels.

Strategic Pillars of NICE

Demand side of Governance (Transparency and Accountability)

Peaceful co-existence and social cohesion

Participation in Public Life

Electoral Processes and Voter Education

Cross Cutting Issues

Knowledge Management, Collaboration and Networking

Institutional Development

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Principles and Values

Independence

NICE is independent and will maintain its autonomy in serving the general public without fear or favour.

Non-partisan

NICE shall conduct its business in a non-partisan manner with objectivity, fairness, balanced and factual accuracy.

Walking the Talk

NICE shall consistently practice its ideals within the institution.

Creativity and innovation

NICE shall utilise the richness of ideas, skills, experiences, and originality in its work while practicing the imaginative skills of both staff and collaborating partners.

Inclusivity and Equity

NICE shall provide equal opportunities to both male and female, and where necessary, shall deliberately work to promote the interest of women, youth, people living with disabilities and the marginalised groups for the realization of equal socioeconomic status in society.

Bottom-up Approach

NICE shall promote bottom up approach in its programming to ensure that its programmes are need-based and people-driven.

Pro-activeness

NICE shall be proactive in the pursuance of its vision and mission by engaging in key democracy and good governance processes and interventions in order to be relevant to society.

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Civic and Voter Education

The National Initiative for Civic Education (NICE) is a Civic and Voter Education Public Trust currently funded through the 9th European Development Fund (EDF). NICE was established with an objective of contributing to the strengthening of the democratic process and the increase of good governance in Malawi. It aims at encouraging the Malawian citizenry to actively participate in public life through awareness initiatives and capacity building.

Resource Centres

In order to realize its goal and objectives, NICE set up offices in all the 31 Districts of Malawi with a Regional Office in all the major cities. These regional offices are managed by Regional Civic Educational Officers who coordinate the activities of all districts in their respective regions. Each District Office has a Resource Centre which stocks different types of books on democracy, governance and others. The resource Centres also have daily newspapers available for the community members and they read them for free with an aim of keeping them abreast with issues of national importance. NICE also introduced Computer lessons in some of the districts with an aim of training girls on basic computer lessons. This project is in some few resource centres but with possibility of rolling out in all the 31 Resource Centres.

Success Stories

Since its inception, NICE has reached tens of thousands of people with civic and voter education messages, provided high quality election monitoring, and was highly successful in remaining relevant to the needs of its beneficiaries, the Malawian population.!

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NICE Official Newsletter

Download a copy of NICE Official Newsletter (TAKEPART) December 2016.

Malawi Constitution

Download a copy of the Malawi Constitution here. Be informed and know your rights!

Download a copy of NICE Strategic Plan 2015-2019.

NICE to benefit from Belgium elections conferences

: Published: 11 October 2018

NICE Public Trust as one of the major stakeholder in Elections in Malawi is taking part in the two conferences onelections in October. The first conference which is “Sustaining Peace through Elections” which has been organised by the United Nations Development Programme, the European External Action Service and the European Commission will take place from 8-11 October, 2018.

The Conference aims at revisiting existing methods to deflect conflicts and electoral violence. Participants at the Conference will debate if political dialogue and peace declarations are efficient tools to promote peace and if it can prevent violence in electoral processes through the monitoring of pre-electoral moments, such as the voter registration, candidate nominations, internal party elections/nominations, among other topics.

According to NICE Executive Director Mr. Ollen Mwalubunju, the conference is timely and very important to NICE as the major civic education body in Malawi as a country because of the already existing conflicts on the ground as we are getting closer to the second Tripartite Election next year on 21^st May 2018. Mwalubunju also said that, “given the expected competitiveness of the forthcoming elections and the early warnings so far observed, the Conference will give opportunity for Malawi stakeholders gain and share experiences that could add value for a free, fair and peaceful elections.”

The second conference is on “The Future of International Election Observation” and has been organised on 10^th and 11^th October by the European Parliament, and the European External Action Service. The Conference will bring together key electoral stakeholders from partner countries and organisations, for an open and interactive discussion on new challenges and opportunities on electoral processes, including the impact of the use of ICT and social media as well as preventing election-related violence. The Conference will be opened by Mr. Antonio Tajani, the President of the European, and Mrs. Federica Mogherini-the High representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice President of the European Commission together with the representatives from African Union and United Nations.

It is expected the two high level conferences will bring invaluable expertise on how to support the strengthening of democratic institutions, build public confidence in electoral processes, and help to deter fraud, intimidation and violence.

Malawi just like any other nation in the world, the ICT inclusive of social media plays a vital role in everyday life and not just the elections. As Malawi is getting geared towards the elections, use of social media is very important and through NICE, Malawi will learn from other countries on how they effectively use social media on electoral related. Another critical aspects of ICT which is increasingly becoming a bone of contention is use of ICT in transmission of election results, this is an area which should be given adequate attention, especially in Africa-the matter has been a source of disputed elections in some countries.

The Delegation from Malawi that have been funded the European Union-Malawi Office to attend the two Conferences include; Mr Ollen Mwalubunju the Executive Director of NICE, Steven Duwa-the Chairperson of the Pan African Civic Educator Network ( PACENET) and Justice Dr Jane Ansah-the Chairperson of the Malawi Electoral Commission.

EU stresses the relevance of NICE in Malawi

: Published: 30 July 2018

NICE intervention helping communities fight maladministration, corruption

: Published: 31 January 2017

National Initiative for Civic Education (NICE)’s commitment to deepening democracy and good governance among Malawians through creating an informed and active citizenry is bearing fruit as more and more communities are continuously demanding accountability and are firmly standing up against corruption and maladministration among duty bearers.