UN Resident Coordinator Dictus bids farewell to Malawi
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Coordinator, Richard Dictus on Tuesday bid farewell to Malawi at a farewell reception hosted in his honour by the Malawi Government as his tour of duty comes to an end.
Dictus has served in Malawi as UN coordinator for four years.
Speaking at the reception, Dictus disclosed that Malawi has been selected as one of the 50 countries to lead the national consultation of the post 2015 scenario which amongst other things will map the way forward after 2015 which is the set target achievement year of eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Other African countries which have been selected alongside Malawi in the scenario are Angola, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia.
He said the inclusion of Malawi in this group is a positive development as it will place the country on the MDG map.
“This effort will again place Malawi prominently on the MDG map and will ensure a continued close relationship between the United Nations (UN) and Malawi,” he said.
Dictus said Malawi will continue to carry a high profile in the UN because of its efforts at MDG achievement despite the story changing marginally.
“While the story changed marginally since the release of recent data on the Household Income and Expenditure Survey, Malawi continues to make major efforts to reach four out of eight MDGs by 2015,” said Dictus.
UNDP has since assured Malawi that they are having an engaged debate across the board to see how achievement can be accelerated and what new measures of support are required on the MDGs that Malawi is lagging behind.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ephraim Mganda Chiume, hailed the UN, saying it has been a good partner in accelerating the implementation and achievement of MDGs in Malawi.
“The Government of Malawi is delighted to note that the UN continues to work coherently with its institutions and agencies through the harmonised approach of delivering as one. Through the adoption of this concept, government has noted that there is a systematic effectiveness and efficiency of the UN operations in Malawi which would lead to a greater achievement of development results due to the coordinated, efficient and effective way of delivering the UN programmes in Malawi,” said Chiume.
UNDP and the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) have been mandated by the UN Secretary General to lead the work on the post 2015 framework. A task team of senior technical experts from UNDP and DESA, and supported by the full UN system, was set up in January, 2012 to define a system wide vision for the post 2015 agenda.
The task team has been mandated to produce a study which will critically appraise the current MDG framework, map ongoing activities inside and outside of the UN on defining a post 2015 agenda and assess challenges that have become more prominent in the last decade.
