Mother's Day in 2024

When is Mother's Day in Malawi?

Mother's Day is a national holiday in Malawi observed on October 15th each year.

In most countries, Mother's Day is not a public holiday and it is a holiday that opens itself to being called a 'Hallmark Holiday' - an excuse to get people to spend money on cards and gifts. In Malawi, it is almost the opposite. It is a public holiday and the holiday is celebrated on World Rural Women's Day, A UN observance which takes place on October 15th.

Mother's Day in Malawi

World Rural Women's Day was launched by several international NGOs during the 4th UN World Conference on Women in Beijing 1995. Celebrations and events take place in more than 100 countries around the world, though Malawi is the only country to align the day to one of its public holidays.

Rural women comprise more than 25% of the total world population yet suffer disproportionately from poverty. While extreme poverty has declined globally, the world’s 1 billion people who continue to live in unacceptable conditions of poverty are heavily concentrated in rural areas. Poverty rates in rural areas across most regions are higher than those in urban areas. Women farmers may be as productive and enterprising as their male counterparts but are less able to access land, credit, agricultural inputs, markets and high-value agrifood chains and obtain lower prices for their crops.

Malawi's economy is heavily based in agriculture, with a largely rural population so the disparity faced by rural women is keenly felt in this sub-Saharan African nation. This makes the joining of World Rural Women's Day and Mother's Day in Malawi an important and appropriate way of highlighting the issues that rural women face while still taking time to celebrate and honour the role of mothers in society.

On declaring this holiday in 2017, President Arthur Peter Mutharika stated his belief that mothers are pillars of society, adding that mothers build families and nurture children to become productive citizens.

President Mutharika calls upon all Malawians to respect mothers, cherish and celebrate the love and care they give Malawians.