It gives me great pleasure and happiness to stand before you this morning with great news for the Malawi nation. This is news of success, news of a milestone that we have achieved in the first phase of the ongoing National Identity Card Mass Registration Campaign. It is a day when the State President, His Excellency Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika and the entire Malawi Government are excited that the hard work and dedication displayed by young men and women in the field has given us fruits beyond our expectations.

We are pleased because fortunately the results that that will be announced by Honorable Minister of Home Affairs & Internal Security will not be carved in stone. Bio-metric kits have been left behind in Mchinji, Ntchisi, Salima, Nkhotakota, Kasungu, and Dowa,-- all the Phase 1 districts -- so that anyone who could not be registered, will still be counted. This will be the procedure for every phase. Even after the 5 phases are completed at the end of the year, there will be continuous registration for all districts beginning in 2018. No one will be left behind. These numbers will change as Malawi approaches universal coverage for all its citizens. "One person, one identity, one card".

Following in the footsteps of Rwanda, Malawi with support from UNDP has embarked on its own journey to establish a national climate change fund to help put the country on a greener development path. Noting the need for Malawi to mobilize more domestic resources to tackle its climate change challenges, the UNDP Deputy Resident Representative, Ms. Claire Medina, reflected on events over the past two years. “Malawi is still recovering from cumulative impacts of the 2015 floods followed by severe drought during the 2016-17 cropping season. We should all be concerned about the increasing geographical coverage and damage from such disasters.” This trend is more worrying as projections for the region point to increased frequency, severity, and volatility for Malawi’s weather systems. Participants at the workshop agreed on the need to scale-up household resilience and climate-smart agricultural practices, while also embracing cleaner sources of energy.

The Government of Malawi through the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development with financial and technical support from the UNDP-UNEP Poverty-Environment Initiative launched a report titled “Overcoming Poverty in Malawi through Sustainable Environment and Natural Resource Management: Identifying Policy Options to Accelerate Poverty Reduction”. This report presents insights from a series of investigations to explore the poverty-environment connection in Malawi and to identify sustainable pathways for poverty reduction by quantifying poverty and environment linkages.

On 22nd of May 2017, Satemwa Tea Estate opened a new factory and packing unit in Thyolo district, in the southern part of Malawi. Satemwa aims to move away from the traditional black tea commodity market and enter the high value niche export market for artisanal tea and flavoured tea bags. This will enable the company to mitigate the risk of fluctuating global tea prices and assert itself as a major player in the more lucrative niche market. It was supported with a grant under the Malawi Innovation Challenge Fund (MICF).

Nali Limited, founded in 1974 by the late Mr. Edward Khoromana, is a food processing company whose niche is pepper sauce and other condiments such as vinegar and honey. Their pepper sauce is in several flavours i.e. chicken braai, curry masala, garlic, ginger and steak braai. Nali Limited acknowledges the role which MBS is playing towards their achieving international standards suitable for any business in the industry. ISO 22000 is the international standard that specifies the requirements for a food safety management system. The SQAM project is providing technical assistance to companies, amongst which Nali, to achieve certification of international facilities on management systems. This is an ongoing process.

Malawi has commenced mass registration of its citizens. This activity, a result of the National Registration and Identification System project whose main objective is to support the National Registration Bureau (NRB) to have a well-established, functional and sustainable registration and identification system (NRIS) that will support improvements in service delivery, governance, economic and social inclusion, officially began on 24 May 2017.

10 May, 2017. Lilongwe: His Excellency Shi Ting Wang, Ambassador of China to Malawi, and Ms. Mia Seppo, the United Nations Resident Coordinator undertook a half-day site-visit to Salima to appreciate the accomplishments achieved under the existing trilateral cooperation between the People’s Republic of China, the Department of Disaster Management Affairs (DoDMA) in Malawi, and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Dr. and Mrs Ngwira are the proud owners of Linga wines, Malawi’s own home to premium wines. With an interest for exporting their products, the owners of the winery are now seeking certification for ISO 22000, the international standards for food safety management. ISO International Standards help businesses of any size and sector reduce costs, increase productivity and quality, and access new markets. For small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs), standards can help to: build customer confidence that products are safe and reliable; reduce costs across all aspects of your business; and gain market access across the world.

On March 7, 2017, Malawi saw opening of its first margarine and baking fat processing plant at Kanengo in Lilongwe to produce a long-life fridge-free margarine called Sunspread. The plant is one of the fruits of UNDP’s Malawi Innovation Challenge Fund (MICF), funded by UK’s Department for International Development (DfID), which provides matching-grants for innovative and inclusive business projects by private sector companies operating in Malawi.

I welcome this momentous decision by Member States to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals which will guide development for the next fifteen years, offering a chance to meet the global citizenry's aspirations for a more peaceful and prosperous, and sustainable future.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with Ministry of Gender and Children Disability and Social Welfare on Friday, 25th November 2016 launched the 2016 African Human Development Report (AfHDR) entitled Accelerating Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Africa.

Volunteers in Malawi celebrated the 2016 International Volunteer Day (IVD) with a passionate call to applaud and recognise the incredible work volunteers do to create a better world for all. The 2016 IVD celebrations took place at the Children of the Nations (COTN), a non-profit organization that assists destitute children and orphans by providing clothing, food, education and other support on the outskirts of Lilongwe City. The theme of the celebration was; #GlobalApplause: Give Volunteers a Hand.

The Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs and the Malawi Prisons Service (MPS) on 3rd November 2016 jointly launched their five year strategic plans which have been aligned to the Democratic Governance Sector Strategy. Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Honourable Samuel Tembenu, SC hailed the UNDP and European Union for supporting democratic governance activities of which the development of the strategic plan for the Ministry is part. “The alignment of these strategic plans constitutes a move by the Government and stakeholders to generate coordinated pathways to desired goals in the sector, in attempting to develop and strengthen the democratic governance sector,” said Honourable Tembenu, SC. At the launching ceremony.

Malawian women drawn from different parts and sectors of the country on 28th October 2016 converged at the Peace-building conference at Crossroads Hotel in Lilongwe where they formed the first ever National Women in Peace-Building Forum that will champion women’s equal and active participation in peacebuilding and peace processes in Malawi. The mandate of the National Women in Peace Building Forum is to mobilise a critical mass of women in Malawi to develop their capacity in order to participate actively in peace, security and humanitarian issues in the country

The Minister of Civic Education, Culture and Community Development, Honourable Patricia Kaliati has hailed a long standing development partnership between the Government of Malawi and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) dating back to 50 years ago. The Minister was speaking at the 50th Anniversary commemoration event held at Mitundu Primary School in Lilongwe under the theme; Consolidating Gains, Shaping the Future.

The Government of Malawi on the 7th of October launched the National Industrial Policy and the National Trade Policy with an aim to support the private sector in furthering economic development, generating employment and reducing poverty. The development and launch of the two policies have been supported by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

At the High-Level Event on Entry into Force of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, held on September 21, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon characterized climate change as the “defining issue of our generation”. It is clear that the international community shares his sense of urgency. Earlier this week, sixty countries formally joined the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, passing one of the two thresholds for the climate deal’s entry into force. These countries represent 48% of global greenhouse gas emissions, falling just short of the second threshold of 55%. With this hurdle surmounted, the UN is ever more confident that the Paris Agreement will enter into force this year, making what once seemed impossible now inevitable.

The Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Honourable Atupele Muluzi has called for collective effort to manage urbanization in Malawi which rising faster than the pace of urban services and infrastructure development. The Minister told a cross section of representatives at the Habitat III Urban Breakfast in Lilongwe which was organized by the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development with support from UN-Habitat and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The Urban Breakfast was held under the theme; Financing Urban Development in the Context of the New Urban Agenda.

Government through the Department of Nutrition in liaison with civil society organisations has developed a framework law, the Food and Nutrition Bill, which seeks to effectively guarantee the right to adequate food and nutrition. The Bill also is also providing for labelling and fortification of food; provision of nutrition in schools; the establishment of the National Nutrition Council and the Food and Nutrition Fund.

The Chief Secretary advised members of the DPC to adhere to the Code of Conduct which they have signed. Among other things, it calls for members to exercise impartiality, professionalism, integrity and independence in order to instill confidence in their community members.

The UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Federal Republic of Germany through KfW have joined hands with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to support the second round of competition of the Malawi Innovation Challenge Fund (MICF) for the Manufacturing and Logistics, and the Agribusiness Windows.

The Government of China has partnered with the Government of Malawi and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in supporting disaster risk management programmes through the launch of the Small Grant Scheme to community based organizations in disaster prone areas.

About 600 households from Msundu village in traditional authority Malanda in the northern district of Nkhatabay depend on the land along Katendeza river for farming. It is from this flat land that people from Msundu grow cassava, rice and maize crops for food and commercial purposes.

The Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development in collaboration with UNDP have launched the Malawi National Human Development Report (NHDR) with Members of Parliament (MPs). The official launch of the MNHDR whose theme is Inclusive Growth in Malawi took place at Parliament building in Lilongwe, presided over by the Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Hon. Dr. Goodall Gondwe and attended by the Chairpersons of various Parliamentary Committees in the Malawi’s National Assembly.

With financial and technical support from the United Nations Development Programme and the European Union, Malawi has launched the first ever National Quality Strategy (NQS) with a call for an inclusive and immediate implementation of the strategy

Malawi launched the Buy Malawi Strategy (BMS) in a bid to promote locally produced goods and services. UNDP supported the development and launch of the strategy in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the private sector. UNDP Resident Representative in Malawi, Mia Seppo commended the Ministry for its leadership and commitment towards the formulation of the BMS, saying the strategy complements other important ongoing initiatives of the Government of Malawi aimed at advancing the industrialization agenda for Malawi.

On this day we celebrate the power of volunteerism. Volunteering fosters creativity, draws strength from our passions and connects us to those who need us most. Volunteerism is a global phenomenon that transcends boundaries, religions and cultural divides. Volunteers embody the fundamental values of commitment, inclusiveness, civic engagement and a sense of solidarity.