Towera Ngwira on the barriers to healthcare women are facing
Towera Ngwira, 29, is a women’s rights activist from Malawi, who is focused on empowering adolescent girls and young women to access quality education, healthcare, and economic opportunities.
In this piece, she shares the barriers girls and young women face when it comes to healthcare and why it’s essential they’re aware of their rights…
Can you introduce us to your work, how you got into it? What inspires you to go on?
My work sits at the intersection of gender justice, sexual and reproductive health and rights, climate justice, and the empowerment of women and girls. I am a young feminist from northern Malawi and co-founded the
Extra Mile Development Foundation
, working with young women and girls, to address inequalities affecting their health, education and opportunities.
I got into this work after seeing the gap between rights on paper and the realities women and girls experience. Growing up in northern Malawi, I witnessed girls dropping out of school, young women struggling to access healthcare and economic opportunities, and families trapped in poverty. These experiences taught me that sustainable change requires listening to communities, investing in local solutions, and ensuring women and girls have the knowledge and resources to make decisions about their lives.
What keeps me going is seeing women and girls find their voice and confidence. That could mean whether a girl stays in school, a young woman becomes economically independent, or a community begins challenging harmful practices. These moments remind me that communities are not just beneficiaries; they are agents of change.
You have worked with women and girls affected by cyclones and climate-related displacement in Malawi. How have climate disasters changed access to sexual and reproductive health services, including contraception and safe abortion care, in the communities you work with?
Climate disasters do not remove h
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