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ESA Regional Hub: Strengthening City-Led Prevention of Hate, Extremism and Polarisation in Malawi  

Publication Date:

05/05/2025

Content Type:

Event Reports

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City-Led Preventiondigital resilienceESA Regional HubLilongweurban planning

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This report provides a summary of discussions during the event and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Strong Cities Network Management Unit, Strong Cities members, event sponsors or participants.

Event Details

Description: A dialogue between national and local actors in Malawi on Strengthening City-Led Prevention of Hate, Extremism and Polarisation, taking place in the context of a broader programme of support Strong Cities’ East and Southern Africa (ESA) Regional Hub has been providing in Malawi to both the national government – primarily the Ministry of Local Government – and local authorities since March 2024.

Where & When: 5 – 6 May 2025,  Lilongwe (Malawi)

Cities Represented

• Blantyre (Malawi)
• Lilongwe (Malawi)
• Mzuzu (Malawi)
• Zomba (Malawi)

Partners Represented

• Ministry of Gender Community Development and Social Welfare
• Ministry of Homeland Security
• Ministry of Local Government, Unity and Culture
• Peace and Unity Commission
• International Organisation for Migration (IOM)
• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
• United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

Key Takeaways

For Mayors & Cities

• Pursue public-private partnerships to increase employment opportunities, with unemployment a key driver of vulnerability to hate and extremism.
• Consider how urban planning and design can strengthen inclusion, social cohesion and improve climate resilience and adaptability.
• Partner with local radio stations, community-based leaders and use other communication channels to improve transparency regarding public service delivery and promote unity, with mis- and disinformation cited as key concerns in the lead up to the general election in September 2025.
• Invest in community-wide digital resilience training, partnering with community-based organisations and schools to disseminate basic digital hygiene and safety skills.

For National Governments

• Ensure efforts since March 2024 to sensitise local government on relevant national frameworks and strategies are consistent, more regular and accompanied by capacity-building.
• Consider allocating resources to local governments for city-led action against hate and extremism in its next budgetary process.
• Ensure local governments are included in cross-border security forums and conversations, particularly given that each of Malawi’s four primary cities are situated within proximity to the country’s border with either Mozambique or Tanzania, where Islamist militants remain active.
• Seek to expedite requests from local governments to expand their city limits so they can start to invest in new housing and other infrastructure to address rapid urbanisation and population growth.

For Partners & Donors

• The Malawi Association of Local Government Authorities should play a more active and prominent role in holding the national government accountable for supporting city-led action against hate and extremism, and can learn from other local government associations in the region – including through the East Africa County and Local Government Association, which hosts Strong Cities’ ESA Regional Hub, on how to do so effectively.
• International partners such as the UNDP and UNODC should make sure their programming in Malawi, which primarily supports the national government, also considers local government.

Next Steps

The workshop concluded with several high-level commitments, which include:

• City officials agreed to develop and begin implementing local action plans to address hate, extremism and polarisation in order to streamline and add structure to existing ad hoc efforts.
• National stakeholders will continue reviewing (and offering local governments the opportunity to support review of) the National Peace Policy to ensure it aligns with local needs, considers local structures and encourages local action.
• The Peace and Unity Commission will continue to work towards the operationalisation of Peace and Unity Committees in Blantyre, Lilongwe, Mzuzu and Zomba.
• The national government will make a consistent effort to raise awareness of its various frameworks and strategies, including building sub-national capacity for their implementation. Through the Ministry of Local Government, Unity and Culture, the national government will also proactively collaborate and communicate with cities during national budgeting processes to improve resource allocation for local implementation of national strategies.

Additional Resources

• ESA Event Report: How Local Governments Can Prevent Hate, Extremism and Polarisation and Promote Unity and Social Cohesion in Malawi. Strong Cities Network, March 2024.
• ESA City Spotlights: eThekwini Municipality (South Africa), Mandera County (Kenya) Mukaza Commune (Burundi), Nansana Municipality (Uganda), Stellenbosch Municipality (South Africa) 
• Strong Cities Policy Brief: National-Local Cooperation: A Pillar of City-Led Prevention of Hate, Extremism and Polarisation – A Practice Update. Strong Cities Network, December 2024.
• Global Counterterrorism Forum’s National-Local Cooperation Toolkit, September 2023
• A Guide for City-Led Response. Strong Cities Network, April 2024 
• Preventing and Responding to Election Disruption and Violence: Ten Considerations for Cities, Strong Cities Network, March 2024 
• A Guide for Mayors: Preventing and Responding to Hate, Extremism and Polarisation, Strong Cities Network, September 2023 
• A Guide for Cities: Preventing Hate, Extremism and Polarisation, Strong Cities Network, September 2023 
• Addressing the Overlooked Role of African Cities in Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism, Strong Cities Network, July 2022 

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