Mutharika arrives in New York for UN General Assembly

Malawian President Peter Mutharika on Friday arrived in New York, USA, to attend the 71st Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Mutharika and the First Lady, Gertrude Mutharika arrived at the John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport, New York City, at 8:50 local time.

The Malawi leader and the First Lady were met on arrival by Malawi’s Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Francis Kasaila, and Malawi Permanent Representative to the UN, Necton Mhura.

The First Couple then proceeded to the Hilton Hotel, in Midtown Manhattan , New York.

On arrival at the hotel, the President and the First Lady were met by Minister of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare, Dr. Jean Kalilani, members of staff at the UN Mission and members of the Malawi delegation to UNGA.

The 71st Session of UNGA will be held under the theme ‘Sustainable Development Goals: a Universal Push to Transform the World’.

The General Assembly, which is taking place a year after the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), will aim at reviewing progress countries have made in attaining the goals.

The Assembly will also share ideas on addressing many of the pressing global challenges such as conflicts, migration, and political instability, extreme acts of violence, terrorism and radicalization.

It will also address issues of extremism, abductions and human trafficking which continues to cause suffering and anguish among people across the world.

The leaders will also tackle challenges of global warming, including impacts of droughts and others such as poverty, hunger disease and underdevelopment.

On the sidelines of the summit, President Mutharika is expected to fulfill a number of engagements during which he will lobby for support and advance Malawi national interests.

A press statement the Ministry of Foreign Affairs released earlier said Mutharika would during his engagements appeal for additional humanitarian assistance to Malawi in view of the drought and resulting food shortage and existing financing gap.

It said he would also seek investments from international stakeholders in support of Malawi’s infrastructure development projects, including roads, energy projects, irrigation and airports.

Mutharika will seek more financing to the fight against HIV and AIDS and other challenging health conditions, including non communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and cancer.

He is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with members of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and Office of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) to seek economic and financial support and investments for Malawi, according to the statement.

The General Assembly, comprised of all 193 members of the United Nations, provides a unique forum for multilateral discussions of the full spectrum of international issues covered by the UN Charter.

It is the main deliberative, policy making and representative organ of the UN. Decisions on important questions, such as those on peace and security, admission of new members and budgetary matters, require a two-thirds majority.

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