Malawi's National AIDS Commission in November or December is planning to launch a pilot project in Zomba, Malawi, that will provide HIV/AIDS testing to individual households, Bizwick Mwale, executive director of NAC, said on Friday, Malawi's Nation reports. According to Mwale, the initiative aims to resolve the inadequate access to HIV testing centers in most rural communities.
Mwale said that NAC "will be sending health officials to individual villages and probably even individual households and institutions." Mwale did not indicate how much NAC expected to spend on the project. The agency also has been determining how much money will be allocated to current HIV/AIDS testing sites, Mwale said (Nation, 10/1).
According to health officials, statistics indicate that 15% of the country's six million sexually active residents have received HIV tests and know their status. The statistics suggest that the majority of HIV-positive Malawians do not know their status. Official figures place the country's HIV prevalence at 14% (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 7/16).
NAC, as well as various stakeholders, met Monday through Wednesday for the joint Annual Review Conference of Malawi's response to HIV/AIDS for the period between June 2006 and July 2007. The goal of the conference is to examine the achievements made in the fight against HIV/AIDS and allow delegates to interact and learn from each other, according to Mwale
Thursday, 4 October 2007
18 allies support Taiwan's bid at U.N. sessions: MOFA
Taipei, Oct. 4 (CNA) Eighteen of Taiwan's diplomatic allies voiced support for Taiwan's membership bid at the 62nd U.N. General Assembly session held Sept. 25 to Oct. 3, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) officials said Thursday.
Top leaders of 17 of Taiwan's diplomatic allies -- namely Honduras, Paraguay, El Salvador, Swaziland, Sao Tome and Principe, Nauru, Palau, Gambia, the Marshall Islands, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Tuvalu, the Solomon Islands, Burkina Faso, Belize, and Kiribati -- spoke in support of Taiwan's U.N. membership bid during the session, the officials said.
Speaking on the first day of the debate session on Sept.25, Panamanian President Martin Torrijos expressed concerns about the tension in the Taiwan Strait, urging countries in areas that face security threats to take steps to alleviate tensions and resolve disputes by peaceful means, according to the officials.
In their speeches delivered during the debate sessions, representatives of the 17 countries, including several heads of state, all pointed out that Taiwan, as an independent and peace-loving sovereign state, is qualified to become a U.N. member.
They cried foul at the United Nations' exclusion of Taiwan, saying such unfair treatment and discrimination should come to an end.
Moreover, they criticized U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for failing to impartially handle Taiwan's membership application in line with the U.N. Charter and relevant meeting regulations. They also demanded that the United Nations respond to the 23 million Taiwan people's aspiration and embrace Taiwan as a new member.
The leaders of Gambia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and the Solomon Islands further urged the United Nations to take active steps to alleviate cross-strait tensions and help hammer out a peaceful solution to the disputes between the two sides.
Among Taiwan's 24 diplomatic allies, only five -- Haiti, Nicaragua, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and Malawi -- didn't speak up for Taiwan at this year's U.N. General Assembly session. Taiwan's one other ally -- the Vatican -- is not a U.N. member.
The MOFA expressed its gratitude in a news release for the diplomatic allies' generosity in lending faithful support to Taiwan's national cause and U.N. membership bid.
The ministry also reaffirmed the government's stance on the U.N. membership issues, saying the quest for U.N. representation under the name Taiwan is an established policy and urging the international community to resist China's pressure and make a just and sensible response to Taiwan's appeal.
Meanwhile, the U.N. representative of Malawi wrote letters to U.N. Secretary-General Ban, Srgjan Kerim, president of the 62nd session of the General Assembly, and Leslie Christian, Ghana's permanent representative to the U.N. who is serving as the president of the U.N. Security Council this month, urging the world body to deal with Taiwan's membership application "properly and seriously."
Top leaders of 17 of Taiwan's diplomatic allies -- namely Honduras, Paraguay, El Salvador, Swaziland, Sao Tome and Principe, Nauru, Palau, Gambia, the Marshall Islands, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Tuvalu, the Solomon Islands, Burkina Faso, Belize, and Kiribati -- spoke in support of Taiwan's U.N. membership bid during the session, the officials said.
Speaking on the first day of the debate session on Sept.25, Panamanian President Martin Torrijos expressed concerns about the tension in the Taiwan Strait, urging countries in areas that face security threats to take steps to alleviate tensions and resolve disputes by peaceful means, according to the officials.
In their speeches delivered during the debate sessions, representatives of the 17 countries, including several heads of state, all pointed out that Taiwan, as an independent and peace-loving sovereign state, is qualified to become a U.N. member.
They cried foul at the United Nations' exclusion of Taiwan, saying such unfair treatment and discrimination should come to an end.
Moreover, they criticized U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for failing to impartially handle Taiwan's membership application in line with the U.N. Charter and relevant meeting regulations. They also demanded that the United Nations respond to the 23 million Taiwan people's aspiration and embrace Taiwan as a new member.
The leaders of Gambia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and the Solomon Islands further urged the United Nations to take active steps to alleviate cross-strait tensions and help hammer out a peaceful solution to the disputes between the two sides.
Among Taiwan's 24 diplomatic allies, only five -- Haiti, Nicaragua, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic and Malawi -- didn't speak up for Taiwan at this year's U.N. General Assembly session. Taiwan's one other ally -- the Vatican -- is not a U.N. member.
The MOFA expressed its gratitude in a news release for the diplomatic allies' generosity in lending faithful support to Taiwan's national cause and U.N. membership bid.
The ministry also reaffirmed the government's stance on the U.N. membership issues, saying the quest for U.N. representation under the name Taiwan is an established policy and urging the international community to resist China's pressure and make a just and sensible response to Taiwan's appeal.
Meanwhile, the U.N. representative of Malawi wrote letters to U.N. Secretary-General Ban, Srgjan Kerim, president of the 62nd session of the General Assembly, and Leslie Christian, Ghana's permanent representative to the U.N. who is serving as the president of the U.N. Security Council this month, urging the world body to deal with Taiwan's membership application "properly and seriously."
Malawi’s music festival ready to expose culture
Lilongwe (Malawi) Malawi’s fourth international cultural function, The Lake of Stars Music Festival, an event which combines the best of local talent working with top international acts, will be held from 5 to 7 October in the northern resort district of Nkhata Bay, a senior tourism official told APA.
According to the Director of Tourism, Isaac Msiska, the festival is expected to raise awareness of Malawi as a developing country and promote it as an extraordinary tourist and cultural destination.
The event will also expose local culture to the world through traditional music and dances that will be performed at the event, he said.
\”The festival acts as a focal point of travelling around our beautiful country and appreciate what Malawi has in terms of its high plateaux and mountains down to the sandy beaches of Nkhata Bay,\” he said.
In addition, Msiska said the event will open a window to foreign investors to come and start their business in the country, thereby contributing to the economy of the country.
The event has attracted world renowned talents from the USA, South Africa, Britain and Africa.
The Lake of Stars Music Festival was inaugurated in 2004 by a British national, Will Jamieson, and it has grown bigger over the years.
According to the Director of Tourism, Isaac Msiska, the festival is expected to raise awareness of Malawi as a developing country and promote it as an extraordinary tourist and cultural destination.
The event will also expose local culture to the world through traditional music and dances that will be performed at the event, he said.
\”The festival acts as a focal point of travelling around our beautiful country and appreciate what Malawi has in terms of its high plateaux and mountains down to the sandy beaches of Nkhata Bay,\” he said.
In addition, Msiska said the event will open a window to foreign investors to come and start their business in the country, thereby contributing to the economy of the country.
The event has attracted world renowned talents from the USA, South Africa, Britain and Africa.
The Lake of Stars Music Festival was inaugurated in 2004 by a British national, Will Jamieson, and it has grown bigger over the years.
Missing Malawi soldier alive
BLANTYRE - A Malawian soldier, one of the three who went missing in Sudan’s Darfur region after a weekend attack on African Union peacekeepers by suspected rebels, is alive, the government said on Thursday.
"I am very happy to report that Captain (Fransisco) Medi is alive," Defence Minister Bob Khamisa told AFP.
He said Medi had "fled to another camp", 50 kilometres (30 miles) away, after their camp was attacked by the rebels. He refused to comment further on the attack.
Khamisa said Malawi, which deployed a battalion of 800 troops to Darfur in August, was "still analysing the situation", adding that it was too early to make a decision on whether to withdraw the troops.
The attack late on Saturday, which left 10 peacekeepers dead, was carried out by a group of heavily armed men in 30 vehicles on an AU military base at Haskanita in south Darfur.
It was the worst assault on the AU force since its deployment in 2004.
The under-equipped force of around 7,000 troops from 26 countries patrolling Darfur, a region the size of France, is due to begin being replaced later this year by a 26,000-strong joint
Malawi seeks aid from Qatar
DOHA • Mohammed Sidik Mia, Minister of Irrigation and Water Development of Malawi is currently here seeking support from Qatar for development of the Southern African country, especially its poverty-stricken Muslim community.
During his week-long stay in Qatar, Mohammed Sidik is expected to meet the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Agriculture, the Minister of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs and officials from various chartable organisations in the country.
His visit is hosted by the Venessia Petroleum company, chaired by Dr Abdul Aziz Bin Mohammed Bin Jabor Al Thani.
Talking to The Peninsula yesterday, Mohammed Sidiq said, Qatar, with its enormous economic resources, can offer a lot towards the development of Malawi. "Malawi is rich with natural resources but they are not explored properly. We have to go a long way to take the country out of underdevelopment. We have great hopes from Qatar, being a prominent nation in the Middle East, especially for the uplift of the poor Muslim community in Malawi," said Sidik.
Sidik represents the ruling Democratic Progressive Party in Malawi. Malawi has a secular democratic system of government, based on free elections, said Sidik. Muslims constitute 20 to 25 per cent of the total population and a majority of them are supporters of the ruling party. Christians are the dominant religious community in the country.
Poverty, unemployment, shortage of educational and professional training facilities are some of the major problems facing the Malawian community in general, and the Muslims in particular.
The spread of HIV/Aids is another major challenge facing the country, as in the case of several other African countries. Poverty and unemployment are the main reasons behind this phenomenon, since they are forcing women to illegitimate sexual relationships, just for the sake of survival, he noted.
"International aid is flowing to Malawi thanks to the economic policies of the present government. But aid comes with tags attached to it," commented Sidiki
" Being a representative of the Muslim community in Malawi, I am appealing for help from our Muslim brethren here. Unfortunately we have been excluded from the generous assistance being provided by the Gulf countries," he said.
He said the Muslim community in Malawi has been struggling hard to preserve its religious and cultural identity under the dominance of the majority community. Due to the lack of educational facilities, Muslim children have been forced to study in institutions run by the other community which in most cases ends up in losing their Islamic identity.
Sidik invited the Qatari investors to explore the rich investment potential of Malawi, in areas like tourism and agriculture. "I am happy to come here as a guest of a leading company in Qatar," he said. During the visit, Sidik is being accompanied by his wife Aabidah
Malawi’s President Asks Speaker of Parliament to Resign
Malawi’s President Bingu Wa Mutharika is calling for the speaker of the national assembly to resign immediately for misleading him into assenting to a bill that had not been debated in Parliament. Mutharika said Loius Chimango submitted a World Bank funded power interconnection bill for his approval, before it had not been debated and passed, as the law requires. However, some political analysts believe the president’s move could further worsen the brewing political tension between President Mutharika’s government and opposition parties in the country.
Meanwhile, the Malawi Human Rights Consultative Committee has reportedly instituted an investigation into the testy relationship between President Mutharika and Speaker Chimango.
University of Malawi Chancellor College political science Professor Blessing Chisinga tells reporter Peter Clottey from the capital, Lilongwe, he thinks that the president’s action is a face saving move.
“I think there is more than meets the eye. Yes, I think the speaker has erred in forwarding to the president a bill that has not been debated in parliament. But I think one needs to go a step further, especially, in the context of the president’s tendencies to bulldoze his way, even if it means violating the constitution,” Chisinga noted.
He said Speaker Chimango might have acted under duress.
“My own reading of the situation is that the speaker might not have acted on his own. He might have been under pressure to push through the bill for assent to the president. But now that this has happened, I think this has been exposed, what the office of the president is trying to do is to save their face,” he explained.
Chisinga said President Mutharika has had a longstanding insipid relationship with Speaker Chimango.
“I think there are a number of things that might have forced the president to go for his resignation. And I think one of those contentious things is I think Section 65. You see Section 65 is going to affect proportions of the government side, so the way the speaker has been acting of late has really showed that he is determined to move on. And I think the president has taken this as an opportunity to get rid of the speaker in order to have a new beginning or in a way to delay the implementation of Section 65,” Chisinga suggested.
He said a Human Rights Commission’s inquiry could possibly unearth the president’s flagrant violation of the constitution.
“I think the findings would clearly show that the president has violated the constitution a number of times. And I think this is reflective of the culture of Malawians in so far as the respect for constitutionalism is concerned. As a country, we have been taken up by the economic achievement that the current government has done at the expense of the rule of law. The president has violated the constitution a number of times with a sense of impunity,” he said.
Chisinga said President Mutharika’s options are very limited since he runs a minority government.
“Of course, it has been inevitable for the president to do that (violate the constitution) because he is running a minority government, and for him to push forward his legislative agenda, I think it is becoming inevitable for him to violate the constitution. But I think it does not warrant him to go that route,” Chisinga pointed out.
Meanwhile, the Malawi Human Rights Consultative Committee has reportedly instituted an investigation into the testy relationship between President Mutharika and Speaker Chimango.
University of Malawi Chancellor College political science Professor Blessing Chisinga tells reporter Peter Clottey from the capital, Lilongwe, he thinks that the president’s action is a face saving move.
“I think there is more than meets the eye. Yes, I think the speaker has erred in forwarding to the president a bill that has not been debated in parliament. But I think one needs to go a step further, especially, in the context of the president’s tendencies to bulldoze his way, even if it means violating the constitution,” Chisinga noted.
He said Speaker Chimango might have acted under duress.
“My own reading of the situation is that the speaker might not have acted on his own. He might have been under pressure to push through the bill for assent to the president. But now that this has happened, I think this has been exposed, what the office of the president is trying to do is to save their face,” he explained.
Chisinga said President Mutharika has had a longstanding insipid relationship with Speaker Chimango.
“I think there are a number of things that might have forced the president to go for his resignation. And I think one of those contentious things is I think Section 65. You see Section 65 is going to affect proportions of the government side, so the way the speaker has been acting of late has really showed that he is determined to move on. And I think the president has taken this as an opportunity to get rid of the speaker in order to have a new beginning or in a way to delay the implementation of Section 65,” Chisinga suggested.
He said a Human Rights Commission’s inquiry could possibly unearth the president’s flagrant violation of the constitution.
“I think the findings would clearly show that the president has violated the constitution a number of times. And I think this is reflective of the culture of Malawians in so far as the respect for constitutionalism is concerned. As a country, we have been taken up by the economic achievement that the current government has done at the expense of the rule of law. The president has violated the constitution a number of times with a sense of impunity,” he said.
Chisinga said President Mutharika’s options are very limited since he runs a minority government.
“Of course, it has been inevitable for the president to do that (violate the constitution) because he is running a minority government, and for him to push forward his legislative agenda, I think it is becoming inevitable for him to violate the constitution. But I think it does not warrant him to go that route,” Chisinga pointed out.
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