Malawi Minister of Foreign Affairs Nancy Tembo says King Charles III’s longstanding commitment to environmental issues, passion for charitable causes and the wisdom he has acquired positions him to address the challenges the world is facing.
Tembo made the remarks last night at the residence of the United Kingdom High Commissioner in Lilongwe where the high commissioner hosted King Charles III coronation celebrations.
Cabinet ministers, leaders of non-government organizations, influencers and heads of various companies attended the celebrations.
In her speech, Tembo who was guest of honour, said the world is facing unprecedented challenges such as climate change, wars, disasters, economic uncertainties and social unrests.
The minister added that the world needs leadership and King Charles – with his commitment to environmental issues, advocacy for arts and culture and passion for charitable causes – is uniquely positioned to address the challenges of our times.
“As for the Commonwealth, King Charles is a symbol of continuity to values and progress which the organization is making. Throughout his life, the king has demonstrated commitment to our shared values of global common good.
“As Malawi continues to grapple with action disasters, issues of climate action are among our priorities. His Majesty offers hope that issues of loss and damage and technological innovations and transfer will receive more emphasis,” said Tembo.
Speaking in an interview during the event, UK High Commissioner to Malawi Fiona Ritchie said millions of people watched the coronation of King Charles on May 6 and looked at the themes that King Charles brings not only to the United Kingdom but to the entire Commonwealth.
“The theme that resonated with me was about making sure that we are serving the people, that he is not there to be served but to serve. This is something that I bring to my role here in Malawi and I recognize that this is the theme that resonates with the Malawi Government and with the people,” said Ritchie.
During the event, each guest was given a tree seedling to take home. Ritchie said the gesture was made to demonstrate the value of planting trees and the need to nature the trees particularly after the country was hit by Cyclone Freddy.
“We have seen that the impact of tropical storms is much more severe because of land degradation, because of deforestation. We know that it is expensive to mount a humanitarian response after a crisis has happened but what we would like to see is ourselves and others investing more in upfront prevention, to reforest and to be prepared as much as possible so that the impacts are less severe,” said Ritchie.
