Many men in Malawi are carrying heavy burdens. They are living by the thread. They have nowhere to take their burdens to let alone talk about them and eventually, slowly, breakdown without anyone noticing.
Prestige Events Malawi (PEM), a Blantyre based events management company has organised a men’s conference dubbed ‘Man in the Mirror’ where men will be encouraged to break the culture of silence and openly discuss the challenges affecting their lives as a way of promoting mental health, stronger families and healthier communities.
Prestige Events Director Chrispin Bondwe said in an interview yesterday that the inaugural ‘Man in the Mirror’ men’s conference will be held at Apollo Auditorium in Blantyre on 3 July 2026.
“This is not an ordinary conference. It is a high-impact, thought-leadership platform designed to confront the most pressing yet least discussed challenges facing men in Malawi today which include declining mental health, failing marriages, chronic work-related stress, reproductive health crises, financial fragility, and legacy planning.”
“These are not peripheral social issues — they sit at the heart of organisational productivity, family stability, and national economic resilience. So, this conference is about encouraging men to look into the mirror, confront their realities and find support from fellow men who may be facing similar challenges,” said Bondwe.
He said ‘The Man in the Mirror’ conference emerges from a growing recognition across corporate boardrooms, health institutions, and civil society that Malawi’s men are navigating extraordinary pressures in near-total silence.
“Rising rates of prostate cancer, erectile dysfunction, and infertility sit alongside epidemic levels of work-related stress, marriage failure, financial insecurity, and mental health collapse. According to documented research, 88% of all suicides in Malawi are by men, and men are globally up to three times more likely to die by suicide than women.”
“These are not private tragedies. They are organisational crises. They are economic losses. They are family collapses. They demand a national conversation — structured, evidence-based, expert-led,and action-oriented, hence this conference. Many men suffer in silence due to societal expectations that portray them as strong and self-reliant at all times,” said Bondwe.
He said they have extended the invitation to various organisations and individuals to partner with them to make the conference a success and help men come out with their problems.
“We have invited high profile and respected speakers to this event who include a well-known Professor of Psychology, Chiwoza Bandawe who will make a presentation on a topic tiltled ‘Men’s Mental Health and Work-Related Stress: Facing What We Cannot Afford to Ignore’,” said Bondwe.
Other speakers at the conference include High Court Judge, Justice Allan Hans Muhome who will make a presentation on ‘Wills, Estate Planning, and the Legacy Men Must Not Leave to Chance’ while Moses Chipemba Soko, a Radiology Technologist and Head of Radiology Department at Zomba Central Hospital will make a presentation on ‘Prostate Cancer and Men’s Reproductive Health: What the Scans Are Telling Us’.
There will also be another presentation from Dr. Duncan Goche, a Urology Physician and Head of Urology Department at Zomba Central Hospital ‘Erectile Dysfunction, Infertility, and Enlarged Prostate: Answers Men Are Afraid to Seek’.
“We believe that these are the topics that will help men to open up and seek help where necessary and these presentations will help give answers to the many questions and thoughts that bother men but they do not talk about them,” added Bondwe.
He said they have organised the conference to be in a more relaxed environment so that men should free up.
“This day will be a Friday and we want men to feel relaxed and there will be different activities including a live band, poetry and different beverages to make men relax. Companies and individuals can buy tickets for their male employees and for themselves, it will be a life changing event,” said Bondwe.
He said they plan to have similar conferences in the central, east and northern regions of the country.
