This report presents findings of the Survey on Traditional Practices in Malawi that was carried out by the National Statistics Office (NSO), the Centre for Social Research (CSR) at the University of Malawi, and the Center for Child Well-being and Development at the University of Zurich (CCWD), with technical and financial support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
The survey was motivated by the fact that some traditional practices, widely deemed as harmful, continue to be practiced despite concerted efforts by different stakeholders to abate them. Law enforcement
remains a concern.
It is against this backdrop that this study sought to contribute to the systematic documentation of the prevalence and persistence of two traditional practices: namely, early marriage and initiation ceremonies.
In particular, this study sought to provide regionally and nationally representative prevalence levels of these two traditional practices. This would then help establish if there are regional variations in the incidence of these traditional practices as well as the principal decision makers. The ultimate objective is to establish the drivers of support for these traditional practices that make them resilient even in the face of concerted efforts to abolish them.