Malawi leaders, Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, has called upon the United Nations to relook into some of its dealings so as to achieve an equitable world in which all member states are going to thrive.
Speaking before the United Nations General Assembly earlier today, President Chakwera observed that failure by countries to achieve Sustainable Development Goals mainly rests on structural formations that continue to erode trust.
“It is therefore not good enough to say that we must rebuild trust in the world, when we continue making decisions that undermine trust. It is not good enough to say that we want to reignite global solidarity, when we continue to pick and choose whom we show solidarity with,”
He added: “It is not good enough to say we want to move towards peace, when our actions in other nations promote war and create the conditions for conflict. It is not good enough to say we want prosperity for all, when our rules for trade and our financial systems are a recipe for deepening the poverty of other nations.”
On Sustainable Development Goals, President Chakwera noted that Malawi has made considerable progress in some areas such as ending hunger in line with SDG 2, safeguarding the good health and well-being of citizens in line with SDG 3, improving quality of education in line with SDG 4, leveraging Malawi’s abundant water resources for better sanitation in line with SDG 6, and to promote life below water in line with SDG 14.
However, President Chakwera called upon the global community to offer a helping hand to Malawi in the remaining SDGs that seem to be lagging behind with seven years remaining before the 2030 deadline.
“We are not satisfied with seeing progress on only five out of seventeen goals. In fact, not only do we need support with making gains in the areas where we are seeing little, but we even need urgent support with safeguarding the gains we have made in the areas where we are doing well. In short, we need urgent support in building resilience to inoculate our economy against the adverse effects of shocks.”
The Malawi leader made a stern call to the UN to restructure its formations and make them more inclusive than is the case now.
He called upon the bloc to consider giving Africa a permanent seat in the UN Security Council which is one of the six principal organs and is charged with ensuring international peace and security. Currently the five permanent members are China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and the United States.
On debt and its impact on achievement of SDGs, the President called upon rich nations to cancel debts of weaker economies as way of expediting economic growth across the globe.
The 78th session of the Assembly is being held under the theme – “Rebuilding Trust and Reigniting Global Solidarity: Accelerating Action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals Towards Peace, Prosperity, Progress and the Sustainability For All”