Malawi leader addresses UN on MDGs

Malawi has reaffirmed its commitment to take a leading role in the implementation of post 2015 development programs for the benefit of its people.

President Peter Mutharika made the commitment in New York on Friday at the UN general Assembly when addressing the assembly.

The member states have gathered to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals which have been formulated to replace the Millenniun Development Goal (MDG) Agenda 2015.

The MDGs which had eight goals have not been attained by many countries that claimed the outgoing goals were unrealistic due to their failure address major challenges. The new goals whose target is 2030 are 17 in total.

Professor Mutharika told the general assembly that his country’s failure to attain four of the eight goals was because the goals especially those with gender connotations were not properly formulated based on the challenges that countries like Malawi encounter in the implementation of development programs.

He therefore assured member states that his government has put mechanisms in place aimed at tackling the factors that contributed to the failures in the just ending development program.

The four goals that Malawi failed to attain include poverty eradication, universal education, maternal health and gender equality and nutrition.

The country did well in reducing infant and child mortality, HIV and AIDS management, and environmental management including climate change.

According to experts, Malawi failed to attain the four goals since all of them needed gender related interventions which have been taken care of under the just adopted Sustainable Development Goals.

A nutrition expert and Principal Secretary in the ministry of Gender, Children, Social Welfare and the Elderly, Dr. Mary Shaba told Mana that gender integration remains a cross cutting issue and needs to be attended to in the implementation of the new goals to avoid a similar conclusion.