Peter Mutharika calls for peace
President Peter Mutharika has said people should value the peace the country is enjoying and take the responsibility of safeguarding it.
“Time has come for us to be proactive by establishing and strengthening our systems and processes for managing conflicts. As long as we are human, there will always be conflicts. But our responsibility is to manage our conflicts,” he said
Mutharika made the remarks during the launch of National Peace Policy and commemoration of International Day of Peace.
He expressed concern that, while the country is known to be peace loving, some sectors of the society have a culture of provoking others.
“It takes a high sense of responsibility and respect for others to keep peace with one another. Unfortunately, I see a growing culture of provoking one another in our society. I see it in politics, in the media, including the social media. For some leaders of political parties, creating lies and misinforming the public has become a norm,” he said
The National Peace Policy aims at promoting sustainable peace and unity in a well coordinated manner.
The policy has been formulated on the basis that the country lacked central coordination of peace despite having a number of institutions that play a role in conflict management.
United Nations Development Programme acting Resident Coordinator, Claire Medina, said, while Malawi has not experienced war, the country cannot sustain peace and unity forever.
Medina said, by restoring trust between the government and citizens, the country can avoid conflicts that come in various forms.
“For it the policy to be successful, it must be taken with trust, providing a platform for dialogue for all Malawian women, young people with disabilities and others. For everlasting peace it must be inclusive,” he said.
Among other things, the policy intends to have peace initiatives that incorporate participation of women, youths and persons with disabilities.
The implementation arrangement of the policy shall consist of the Malawi Peace Commission as the highest umbrella body.
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