The Malawi National Statistics Office (NSO) collaborated with UNDP to create a gender-based violence (GBV) observatory hub, a digital system for real-time tracking of GBV cases at various levels. Active in 12 districts, the hub gathers data through Community Victim Support Units (CVSUs). The CVSUs are located in Traditional Authorities, which are administrative sub-divisions within districts. The CVSUs covered an area with a minimum population of 3000 and at least 840 households. Reports are compiled and sent to the national level for prosecution, with the NSO validating the data. This system aids case tracking, analyzes violation patterns, and supports advocacy. To date, 15,523 cases have been recorded, with a 70% prosecution rate. Future plans aim to expand the hub to all districts for improved policy integration.

The objectives of the project include harmonizing GBV data collection in Malawi, enhancing case tracking, improving social protection responses, and linking to existing gender-based violence data systems for better justice delivery.

Achievements include the online collection of GBV data, covering domestic violence and harmful practices, along with regular analysis to identify trends in Malawi. Quick case resolution has improved in Hubs, with 70% of reported cases disposed of promptly, reducing follow-up challenges. Over four years, the system reported 15,523 cases, including 1,155 linked to harmful practices.

The Observatory Hub's monthly reviews have enhanced the disposal rate of court cases and service provision for SGBV survivors. Efficient case management ensures tracking from inception to finalization, preventing losses in the system. Accessible data supports evidence-based programming, aiding resource mobilization by district and national partners. This data has influenced gender integration in district plans, garnering interest from development partners like UN Women, UNICEF, and USAID.

https://nsogbv.mw/

• Karonga, Mzimba, Nkhata Bay, Nkhotakota, Ntchisi, Dowa, Lilongwe, Mangochi, Machinga, Mwanza, Nsanje, Malawi

The system is designed to handle increasing demands by allowing more resources to be added when needed, ensuring smooth performance as the number of users and districts or data grows. Instead of using cloud-based services, it operates on on-premises hosting, meaning it runs on local servers that are managed and maintained directly by NSO. This setup allows full control over data and infrastructure while still enabling efficient scaling. To keep the system flexible and easy to update, it follows a microservices approach, where different parts of the system work independently. This means that one part can be improved or expanded without affecting the others, making the system more adaptable and easier to manage.

Additionally, database replication and backup strategies are in place to protect important information. By creating multiple copies of data, the system ensures that information remains safe and accessible even if something goes wrong, reducing the risk of data loss or downtime. With this design, the system remains strong, reliable, and ready to grow without relying on external cloud services.

The intervention was adopted by government, and it is part of the NSO website. The system is operated by the government officers which UNDP empowered to operate and modify the system where necessary. They have various levels of user rights including the main user rights, as such there is no need to pay for user rights. Modifications following internal authorities’ authorization can be done. The NSO is also mandated to support government departments on data management and statistical issues and this mandate continues for its services with Ministry of Gender Judiciary police and other government departments despite the intervention project life being there or not. Since its establishment, the hubs have been scaled up from an initial six districts to 12 districts.

The project supports a number of World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) core values aimed at fostering an inclusive, people centered, and development-oriented information society as outlined in the Geneva declaration of principles (2003) and the Tunis Commitment (2005) - The intervention provides universal information access for marginalized groups, empowering rural child protection workers to upload data via tablets and a web-based application, enabling offline uploads and limited data use. - The intervention upholds fundamental human rights, including privacy, information access, and freedom of expression, by encouraging communities to report GBV cases, guided by privacy principles, confidentiality, and ethics. Personal information is only accessed by service providers whereas the NSO only publishes the statistics. - The intervention has also supported bridging of the digital divide between women and youths working in rural areas including volunteers on child protection to have the capacity to use digital gadgets for data collection and transmitting to district and national levels. - The intervention has been made possible with multi-stakeholder coordination whereby following the mapping report, various state and non-state actors were part of the review that led to standardization of the data collection tools. Following EU and UNDP support to the system, other development partners such as Norway and Iceland have upscaled the system to additional districts. At district level there is close collaboration of various duty bearers as the system enhances accountability through the Gender Technical Working Group and the full council meetings attended by all government sectors, members of parliament, traditional leaders, and other stakeholders. -The system enables leveraging on the technology to promote gender equality through addressing GBV issues timely in order to enable survivors easily attend education, get involved in economic activities.