On design and improving effectiveness for results  In designing future programmes a detailed and better political economy analysis (PEA) of the low numbers of women in the National Assembly and Local Councils should be carried out. The results of the PEA should inform the design of the programme in terms of choices of actual interventions, a desired hierarchy of results to be achieved, stakeholder analysis and a robust and realistic theory of change for the programme.  Future programming on increasing numbers of women in decision making structures should include deliberate efforts to consider advocacy on interventions informed by the approach of affirmative action. The approach of positive action used for the 2009 and 2014 elections delivers slow, unstable results in a context of pervasive patriarchal tendencies and practices.  Advocacy and lobbying activities should clearly target relevant decision makers in a timely manner in order to influence the outcomes of decision points such as nomination of candidates in political parties.  Community mobilization should go beyond short term concerns of making people aware of the intervention to include mobilization of communities to ensure positive change in voter behavior in favour of women and in supporting affirmative action measures within political parties and political decision making structures.  Rather than providing cash hand-outs to support campaigns of female candidates, programmes of this nature should be more sensitive to the socio-political and economic contextual variables and the risk of fungibility; On management, coordination and implementation  NGO GCN should craft capacity building interventions on gender and politics‟ in the context of Malawi’s political system, political culture and more in-depth skilling on approaches to political empowerment; 87