The United Nations (UN) on Friday tipped Malawi on what it needs to do to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which have169 targets.
The SDGs were adopted at the recent 70th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) which President Peter Mutharika attended in New York.
UN resident coordinator in the country Mia Seppo said apart from completing the remaining two Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Malawi must also focus on breaking the cycle of poverty and hunger.
Seppo said this at her residence in Lilongwe on Thursday, when she held a reception in commemoration of World UN Day.
She said: “Malawi has for a number of times called for assistance in responding to natural disasters and that calls for serious thinking on the part of government where, among other areas, can put enough focus on climate smart agriculture which would increase agriculture productivity and in the long run contribute to solving climate change effects thereby breaking the cycle of climate change related disasters and doing away with food shortage.”
On her party, Minister of Home Affairs and Internal Security, Jean Kalilani, said government needs to make partnerships with different development stakeholders to help it achieve the goals.
Said Kalilani: “It is encouraging to note that the President mentioned the need to source funding for the implementation of these SDGs. You know, during the implementation of MDGs, we never outlined how we were going to source funding for the implementation that is why this time around we need to ensure that we know where the money is going to come from.”
The 17 goals are expected to stimulate action over the next 15 years in five areas of critical importance which are people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership.
