President Peter Mutharika will leave the country on Friday for an official visit to the United Kingdom where he will attend this year’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) which starts Monday.
This 25th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting will be held in London from 16th to 20th April, 2018 where 53 Heads of State and Government will attend the Summit.
According to a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation,
President Mutharika will also visit Scotland where he will fulfil a number of engagements aimed at cementing the bilateral relations between Malawi and Scotland.
This year’s CHOGM, which will be chaired by Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Theresa May will be held under the theme: “Towards a Common Future” with other sub-themes which include: ‘a more prosperous future’, ‘a more sustainable future and ‘a more secure future’.
The statement further states that Mutharika has been invited to address the 2018 Women’s Forum which will reflect on some of the global challenges still faced by women, as part of a wider commitment to “leave no one behind” in the Commonwealth roadmap to achieving gender equality by 2030.
“As internationally agreed. His Excellency will take the opportunity to share with the Forum steps his administration is taking to end ills such as violence against women, child marriages, trafficking of women and attacks on people with albinism.
“The country’s early childhood development efforts, child protection, functional literacy and family welfare programmes will be shared with participants at this year’s event,” reads part of the statement.
Mutharika will as well share experiences on the strides the country is undertaking to address youth issues such as youth empowerment.
During his visit in Scotland, the Malawi President is expected to hold bilateral talks with the Right Honourable Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland and he will address the Scottish Parliament, and sign the Global Goals Malawi-Scotland Partnership Agreement, among other engagements.
The Commonwealth was founded in 1949 and is mostly composed of former British colonies, brought together on a principle of sovereign equality and shared values driven by a common desire to uplift the standards of living of 2.3 billion Commonwealth citizens (of which 60% are under the age of 30).
The Commonwealth is currently focusing on women rights, climate change, small and climate vulnerable states, tackling corruption and organised crime, cyber security, promotion of trade and investment, and reforming the organisation to make it more efficient and effective to the interests of its members.
Malawi is benefiting from the Commonwealth membership through technical cooperation programmes, capacity building, research, experts exchange programmes and aid provided by member states under the commonwealth framework.
Koma akabwerako kapena athawa amusiyira Chilima