The Public Service in Malawi has over the years experienced deteriorating performance as evidenced in its challenges to deliver public services effectively. The lack of basic services (in other cases) is particularly acute in the rural areas where over 80% of the population resides. Consequently, the country rates poorly on several development indicators including the achievement of the Malawi Vision 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Critical challenges face the accountability dimension of the governance space, which covers the interaction among MDAs in public service. Specifically, to the horizontal accountability dimension, the public service is faced with some of the following issues: Weak knowledge management and information sharing; weak coordination of innovation initiatives for continuous service improvement; ineffective learning and innovation; inadequate space for young people to contribute to new ways of thinking in the public sector; and silo working approaches across the MDAs. 

Over the years, government has attempted to tackle these gaps. Through the Public Sector Reforms agenda, a solid policy framework for the implementation of reforms across the public service has been laid. Of note, the government passed the National Public Sector Reforms and Public Service Management policies in 2018 to guide the formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all reforms in the public sector. Both of these two policies outline continuous improvement through research and innovation as well as coordinated and collaborated approaches among MDAs as being critical for improved service delivery. Public sector innovation is therefore recognized as a critical enabler for improving public service delivery and overall public sector reforms.