Malawi, 2012

Allow me to congratulate

the President on his well-deserved election to the

presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh

session. My delegation and I would like to assure him

of Malawi’s full support during his tenure of office.

It is an honour to address the Assembly today for the

first time in my capacity as President of the Republic of Malawi. As the Assembly may be aware, I took office

in April of this year after the death of my predecessor,

His Excellency Professor Bingu Wa Mutharika. On

behalf of all Malawians, I express our appreciation for

the support that the world gave us during that difficult

time in our country. I would like to also acknowledge

in particular the support I received from leaders from

the Southern African Development Community and the

entire African continent when I assumed the presidency.

The support that I received is a mark that Africa has

indeed embraced women’s leadership.

Joining the world’s leaders here and becoming only

the second female Head of State in Africa’s history,

after Her Excellency President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of

Liberia, is a moment of pride for me. However, mine

is not the story of the success of an individual, but of

a people. A peaceful and constitutional transition of

power was not inevitable when my presidency began.

It is the courage and determination of the people of

Malawi that made it possible. The people of Malawi

have made a decisive choice. They have chosen

democracy, they have chosen peace and they have

chosen to work together to realize their destiny. It is my

people’s courage and determination that has taken me

to the presidency, and which we will now apply to our

national development.

The theme of the general debate this year is “Bringing

about adjustment or settlement of international disputes

or situations by peaceful means”. It allows us to reflect

on some of the conflict situations around the world,

including in Africa. Those conflicts have a devastating

effect on the lives of millions, especially women and

children. The impact of conflict goes beyond the people

directly involved, affecting the region and the world.

Let me agree with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

when he said in his reappointment speech that one of

the greatest opportunities we have for a better world

without conflict is through sustainable development.

The biggest threats to security and peace are poverty,

lack of opportunity and lack of hope. It is unacceptable

to me as the President of Malawi, as it should be to the

global community, that we have children continuing to

suffer from malnutrition, or that they yearn to learn but

have to sit under trees rather than in proper classrooms.

It is unacceptable that a mother should die while giving

birth because the nearest health centre is far away, or

that thousands die of diseases that we have answers

for. It is unacceptable that the youth who represent the

future of our world have few opportunities to realize their potential, or that they are not guaranteed a society

where they can speak their mind. It is unacceptable that

farmers and other workers continue to toil to make the

best of what they have, but do not enjoy the fruits of

their labour due to lack of modernization, a supportive

policy environment and access to markets; and that

they are buried under global tariffs and taxes. It is when

those frustrations are in place that conflict takes root.

For decades, I have fought these issues in Malawi

as a social justice and human rights activist and

through my work at the gra-ssroots. I have experienced

the struggles of the poor and the suffering of Malawian

women. I have championed the advancement of the

oppressed and marginalized, fought for the rights of

women and children, campaigned for the betterment of

the rural and urban poor. I can attest to the fact that

the experience of a poor and disadvantaged Malawian

is intimately intertwined with that of Africans, and

indeed with that of the people of the least developed

countries.

Now, as the President of the Republic of Malawi,

I have a vision. My vision is to eradicate poverty

through economic growth and wealth creation. Malawi

aims to create wealth by transforming the structure of

the economy, promoting the private sector in order to

achieve economic growth, accelerating job creation

and protecting the vulnerable and the excluded within a

decentralized and democratic environment.

Specifically, my vision is to transform Malawi

into one of the fastest-growing African economies in

the next decade. For me, growth is not merely related

to gross domestic product. Growth is about wealth and

prosperity for all, opportunity for all, happiness for all,

political and economic freedom for all. Growth is also

about growing the number of children in school and

young people in jobs. Growth is about increasing the

number of mothers who give safe birth in a hospital and

of growing the number of families who have plenty of

food.

As the Assembly may be aware, for the past

three years Malawi has faced severe economic and

social challenges brought on by poor political and

economic governance, which could have impacted our

ability to accelerate the attainment of the Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs). Therefore, upon assuming

office I immediately put in place an economic recovery

programme to restore macroeconomic stability in the

country so that we can not only address our immediate macroeconomic issues, but also secure Malawi’s ability

to meet the MDG targets.

I would like to share that we are certain that we will

be able to achieve five of the eight MDGs by 2015. And

we will continue to strive to achieve our goals of the

three remaining MDGs: universal primary education,

promoting gender equality and empowering women,

and improving maternal health. Coincidentally, these

three MDGs are related to issues that I have worked on

throughout my life, and I will personally ensure that

Malawi redoubles its efforts to make improvements in

those areas.

My Government realizes that the potential of

Malawi — the potential of our land, our resources

and, most importantly, our people — is great. But

that opportunity will be seized only through our own

efforts. That is why my vision is not just hopeful words.

Our willingness to take tough decisions does not end

here. Our plans need to be translated into action. To that

end, within my first 100 days in office, Malawi held an

inclusive national dialogue on the economy to narrow

down five priority sectors within our medium-term

national development framework, the Malawi Growth

and Development Strategy II. The five priorities are

energy, tourism, agriculture, mining and infrastructure

development.

Central to those priorities is our emphasis on

delivery through partnership with the private sector.

We will facilitate that by making changes aimed

at improving the business climate. My Cabinet has

identified three specific projects within each priority

sector and translated that into an implementation

plan for the next two years. The projects range from

the completion of essential roads and rail lines, to

setting up alternative energy sources and undertaking

business climate reform to attract investment into

agro-processing and mining. The projects will set our

country on a path of fulfilling its full potential.

In addition, I have also launched two initiatives — the

Presidential Initiative on Maternal Health and Safe

Motherhood, and the Presidential Initiative on Poverty

and Hunger Reduction — to fast-track the interventions

needed to address the social needs of disadvantaged

groups, especially women and youth.

Malawi refuses to accept what others may consider

to be our destiny — the status of underdevelopment.

Malawi is committed to change that perception. But in

so doing, my Government and, indeed, the people of Malawi know that we need to engage the rest of the

global community. That is why, within days of taking

office, I reopened dialogue and engagement with our

neighbours, with African leaders and with the rest of the

world. The people of Malawi are grateful for the good

will that many have shown us, and we are encouraged

by the support of our partners.

Malawi will continue to need global support in

the short and medium terms. We need this support

to protect the rural poor from food shortages caused

by prolonged dry spells in some parts of the country.

Malawi is looking for partnerships to build its energy

capacity. Malawi needs support to attract private

investment for the rich potential we have in agroprocessing

and mining, among others. We are looking

for partnerships to support the development of our

transport and communications infrastructure in order

to improve access to markets.

Before I conclude I wish to draw the Assembly’s

attention to the following three issues that have a

bearing on most of the least developed countries.

First, I call upon the General Assembly to ensure that

the Istanbul Declaration and Programme of Action,

adopted in Turkey in May 2011, will be implemented

in their entirety in an effective and timely manner.

In particular, duty-free and quota-free market access

and supply-side capacity must be ensured to the least

developed countries.

Secondly, most least developed countries are facing

the adverse effects of climate change, which is causing

f looding, land degradation and drought. In that regard,

Malawi welcomes the recent outcome of the United

Nations Conference on Sustainable Development held

in Brazil, where international consensus emerged

and agreement was reached on important areas of sustainable development. The implementation of these

agreements is very crucial for our future.

Finally, on the issue of the reform of the United

Nations, Malawi fully supports the expansion of the

Security Council in both permanent and non-permanent

categories. As members of the Assembly are aware,

Africa represents one of the single largest regions

within the United Nations, and a very significant

proportion of issues discussed in the Security Council

concern the African continent. It is for those reasons,

therefore, that Malawi joins the rest of the African

nations in demanding at least two seats in the permanent

category and five seats in the non-permanent category,

as stipulated in the Ezulwini Consensus. Africa has to

lead its own development, and that will be a step in

ensuring that it can.

At this moment, I say to the Assembly that Malawi

is on a journey – a journey to change its trajectory; a

journey to make real change happen; a journey to foster

private-sector growth; a journey to be an integral part

of the global community. Malawi is ready to take its

turn to grow, not just in wealth, but in opportunities,

hopes and freedoms for all of the Malawian people.

As a new President and a new member of the global

community of leaders, I ask for the Assembly’s support

as this one African country journeys to realize its full

potential — for its people, for Africa and for the world.