Rural of municipality of Miantso

The municipality of Miantso is a rural municipality belonging to the district of Ankazobe, part of the Analamanga region. Agriculture, livestock farming, and trade are the main occupations of the population. Before joining the Center of Excellence process with Gender Links (GL), the municipality did not yet have a gender policy. It was found that women did not yet have their place in any area (economic, social, or political). 

The municipality of Miantso is one of the municipalities that has benefited from the support of the SAHA program. In fact, it has already applied the policy of good local governance with this project. Since 2012, the municipality of Miantso has been chosen as a GL Center of Excellence (COE) with a view to achieving the objectives of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development. Then, as planned in the COE process, the Miantso municipality's “Achieving sustainable development goals through a gender approach” completed steps 01 to 10. Among the major activities undertaken was the development of a gender action plan with mention of the allocated budget. 

The municipality also held awareness-raising and information sessions on the objectives of the SADC. Following GL's intervention and the efforts made by the municipality, the situation has improved significantly. The implementation of the Millennium Development Goals and the SADC protocol has enabled this municipality to promote a gender-based approach in its policy. Municipal officials have recognized that the sustainable development advocated by the MDGs is not limited to men alone, as it is important to ensure the equal participation of women and men in the development process in order to avoid discrimination at both the political and social levels. The mayor is also a woman. This facilitates the integration of gender into the management of local affairs.

Thanks to the implementation of the gender action plan, the municipality has been able to carry out various activities. The municipality has been able to use a service standard that facilitates public access to the municipal office so that users can easily access it. In addition, land certificates have been drawn up for both women and men. The municipality has also been able to build infrastructure that meets the needs of both women and men. At the municipal level, the recruitment procedures specify that the call for applications is open to both women and men. The municipality has been able to support and assist women in managing a women's association and in finding partners. A local health center has been opened to support women and children.

Due to the resurgence of insecurity in this municipality, municipal officials were able to work with autonomous security detachments to manage the problem of insecurity together with the grassroots community. On the social front, the municipality was able to organize supplementary trials and collective marriages. Through the implementation of the various activities mentioned above, changes have taken place at both the organizational and socio-economic levels: rural security is improving, 800 land certificates have been distributed to women, and all women's associations are now legally constituted. A new relationship between users and municipal officials has been established.

Access to services that take into account the different needs of women and men has improved. Access has been facilitated at the municipal office level. The women's empowerment program has been strengthened through a series of training, support, and mentoring initiatives. The effective participation of the population in various activities undertaken by the municipality has been significant thanks to the adoption of a participatory and gender-based approach. The participatory budget has been used to meet the needs of women and children. This is why the municipality has been able to build secondary schools and high schools. Indeed, a sharp increase in school enrollment rates has been observed. Men who participated in various gender training sessions were able to convince their wives to participate in various meetings. Thanks to the existence of the gender and development action plan, which aims to reduce poverty, the municipality of Miantso stands out from other municipalities.

Despite the efforts made by municipal officials and the gender committee in this municipality, barriers have been identified and remain an obstacle to the development process, namely the persistence of traditional perceptions of women's role in the home, the illiteracy of women, which prevents them from acquiring the specialized skills needed to assert their expertise and gain a position in decision-making bodies; the political crisis in Madagascar, which discourages the population from participating; and the lack of awareness-raising resources, which slows down the implementation of activities. To improve the municipality's performance, it is important to systematize the gender approach in interventions and to set up a monitoring and evaluation system, as well as to organize exchanges and sharing between COE municipalities to capitalize on what has been learned.