Mutharika upbeat about post-2015 development agenda
Malawi has reaffirmed its commitment to take a leading role in the implementation of post-2015 development programmes for the benefit of its people.
President Peter Mutharika made the commitment on Friday at the UN General Assembly in New York, United States where member States gathered to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals which have been formulated to replace the Millennium Development Goals Agenda 2015.
Most countries did not attain the eight MDGs described as unrealistic due to their failure to address major challenges. The new goals, whose target is 2030, are 17 in total.
Mutharika told the general assembly that Malawi’s failure to attain four of the eight goals was due to the goals, especially those with gender connotations, which were not formulated to meet challenges that countries such as Malawi encountered in implementation.
He, therefore, assured member States that Malawi has put mechanisms in place to tackle factors that contributed to failure in the just-ending development programme.
The goals Malawi failed to attain are poverty eradication among the people, universal education, maternal health and gender equality and nutrition. On the other hand, the country excelled 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 hey needed gender-related interventions which have been taken care of in the just adopted Sustainable Development goals.
Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare, Dr Mary Shawa, who is a nutrition expert, told Mana [Malawi News Agency] 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. n
