In a global community that is drifting into unprecedented chaos and conflict of polarization, Malawi offers to take no specific sides, seeking to assert neutral diplomacy and international freedom of association.
In his address to the 79th United Nations General Assembly, Malawi’s President Lazarus Chakwera highlighted the critical role of multilateral cooperation in fueling his country’s development progress over the past four years.
“Malawi is a testament to the power of cooperation to move a nation’s development forward into an inclusively wealthy and sustainable future that is brighter than the past,” Chakwera told the global gathering in New York in the afternoon of Thursday, 26th September 2024.
The Malawian leader provided a detailed account of how international partnerships have enabled Malawi to undertake a range of transformative initiatives, from infrastructure development to healthcare improvements and climate change response.
“Whether it be the four road corridors and hundreds of secondary schools we are constructing through our cooperation with the United States; or the M1 road we are rehabilitating and expanding through our cooperation with the European Union; or the railway system we have revived for the first time in 40 years through our cooperation with China; or the orthopedic and neurosurgery hospital we have developed through our cooperation with Norway; or the procurement of emergency food, fertilizers, and climate resilient seeds for climate-ravaged Malawian communities through our cooperation with Tanzania, Ukraine, Egypt, Iceland, Russia, Morocco, and many others, – Malawi’s progress has been facilitated by strong international cooperation,” Chakwera said.
The president also highlighted Malawi’s active engagement in the negotiations on the Pact for the Future, which is being endorsed at this session of the General Assembly. Additionally, he spoke of the country’s second annual Malawi Partners Conference, which has brought together 80 international organizations and institutions to align on the country’s ATM Strategy for boosting productivity and value addition in agriculture, tourism, and mining.
Chakwera’s emphasis on multilateral cooperation comes amid growing global challenges, including the devastating impacts of climate change and the recent tragic death of Malawi’s Vice President. The president stressed that “no nation can survive a global crisis or develop in the face of shocks without strong multilateral cooperation to sustain it.”
“If the future belongs to nations that know how to leverage the power of international cooperation, then the future belongs to Malawi,” Chakwera proclaimed, underscoring his country’s unapologetic commitment to multilateral collaboration.
However, the Malawian leader also expressed concerns about the inefficiencies and undemocratic nature of the current global system of multilateral institutions, calling for urgent reforms to make them more responsive and inclusive.
Chakwera’s speech has positioned Malawi as a model of how effective multilateral partnerships can drive sustainable development, even as he pushes for a stronger, more equitable international order to support the aspirations of developing countries.
