Presidents From African Nations Set The Tone At 2nd Day Of UN General Assembly

The Presidents of Cote D’Ivore, Malawi and Rwanda spoke at the 72nd UN General Assembly, giving some more the most inspiring speeches of the meet. Here are some excerpts from their speeches.

*Rwanda*

The United Nations must treat all people with impartiality and respect, and be a good steward of the funds entrusted to it, the President of Rwanda today said in his annual address to the General Assembly. “Abuse and waste are therefore not a mere public relations problem, but an existential threat, which must be tackled head-on,” Paul Kagame said.

Kagame urged other world leaders to address global challenges, saying “we have the tools and the mandates but where we fall short is in getting things done.

The essence of reform, is a mindset of constantly striving to improve performance and delivery, and holding ourselves responsible for shortcomings and results.”

*Côte d’Ivoire*

The President of Côte d’Ivoire, Alassane Ouattara, cited the success of United Nations peacekeeping operations in his West African country as an inspiration for the world Organization to increase its initiatives. “The lessons of this peacekeeping operation, recognized as one of the rare successes of our world Organization in maintaining peace over the past several decades must inspire the United Nations further in initiatives in favour of peace,” he said.

Turning to the issue of terrorism, Ouattara said that despite some encouraging operations in the Middle East, the world is struggling to find a satisfactory response in Africa.

“These successes will remain empty and the terrorist threat a constant worry if Africa continues to be the soft under-belly of world terrorism,” he said.

*Malawi*

The United Nations (UN) Women Solidarity Movement for Gender Equality says Malawi is on right track in demonstrating commitments towards empowering women and young girls through elimination of all forms of violence directed at them.

President of Malawi Prof. Arthur Peter Mutharika, speaking earlier, said Malawi has intensified mainstreaming of gender equality in all sectors.

He cited the composition of commissioners at Malawi Electoral Commission, which has five female commissioners out of the total nine and is being headed by a woman.

But he was quick to point out that challenges still exist especially in politics. “There is still low female participation and the number of female legislators has been declining over the years,” Mutharika said.

The President said his government is planning a deliberate approach of boosting female participation and aspirations in politics.

“In the next elections, we will reserve one constituency for a woman in all the 28 districts. The challenge is, will the Malawian society go beyond that and elect more women into parliamentary seats?” wondered Mutharika.