By Manasse Nyirenda
Lilongwe, September 24, Mana: Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eisenhower Mkaka, has expressed need for debt relief for Malawi and least developed countries in general, saying it would go a long way in mitigating the effects of COVID-19.
The Minister said this when he addressed the media on Thursday in Lilongwe at a time the United Nations (UN) General Assembly meets for the 75th session.
He said as economic effects of COVID-19 continue to bite hard, it is increasingly becoming difficult for poor countries to service the debts as revenue collection continues to decline, a development which president Chakwera also highlighted when he made a statement on behalf of Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
“We are talking about the United Nations in general and the issues of collaboration, the issues of working together.
“Responding collectively to matters of global interest, in this case we are talking about COVID-19. And there is an extension to COVID-19 because you will appreciate that matters of MGDs have been affected substantially by COVID-19.
“Therefore, as a country we are looking at how organisations or countries can actually help Malawi recover from the effects of COVID-19. We are looking at matters of giving moratorium or even debt cancelation so that we start afresh as a country,” he said.
This year’s assembly is being held under the theme, ‘the Future we want, the United Nations we need: re-affirming our collective commitment to multilateralism-confronting COVID-19 through effective multilateral action.’
Some of the president’s upcoming engagements include General Debate on the 24th September, when the president is expected to highlight areas of importance to the Government of Malawi.
The president will also participate in High Level Meeting on Financing on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development on 29th September, 2020 among others.
The General Assembly which started on September 18 will run up to 2nd October, 2020.
