First Lady Getrude Mutharika has re-affirmed Malawi’s commitment towards ensuring that every citizen globally is able to live a healthy and productive life.
Delivering her keynote address to a mammoth crowd on Saturday evening at the National Mall in Washington DC in the United States of America, Mutharika said the day provided an opportune time to the world leaders to join hands in advancing the agenda of mainstreaming issues of sanitation, safe, clean and portable water into priority areas.
“We can do this by increasing access to safe, clean water and sanitation. This is why I am humbled to be the first woman to sign the Women for Water and Sanitation Declaration”, stressed the First Lady amidst clapping and cheering from the audience comprising of international leaders, donors and other stakeholders during a commemoration of Global Citizens 2015 Earth Day.
Madame Mutharika who is also Chairperson and Founder of Beautify Malawi Trust said that by means of water, life is given to everything and that sanitation is dignity, hence the need for concerted efforts and political will in implementing such issues of global importance.
“It is therefore my distinct pleasure to stand alongside these remarkable women, who have joined me in signing the Declaration to give hope to the hopeless”, added Mutharika in her address.
In a statement issued by the organizers of the Global Earth Day, Madam Mutharika was asked to deliver a keynote address in order to mobilize support on calls for an end to uncoordinated waste disposal across the world in her capacity as champion and Patron of Beautify Malawi ( BEAM) which she launched with an aim of raising awareness on the need to conserve the environment, observe cleanliness and sanitation around communities and the Malawi as a nation.
The Declaration on Global Citizens 2015 calls upon the global community to commit itself both financially and politically, to improve the lives of the people in the world, through the provision of water and sanitation.
Others speakers at the gathering included Jim Kim, President of the World Bank Group; Ban ki-Moon, United Nations Secretary General, Sally Jewell, US Secretary of the Interior; Ernest Moniz, US Secretary of Energy; Bob Corker, U.S. Senator; Chris Murphy, U.S. Senator; Earl Blumenauer; Voahangy Rajaonari mampianina, First Lady of Madagascar; Philippe Douste-Blazy, UNITAID Director General and Lilianne Ploumen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of Netherlands who all committed themselves financially and politically towards supporting the conservation of the environment globally while challenging other people to emulate by taking immediate actions to end extreme poverty and solve climate change.
Earth Day was set aside to broaden diversity and mobilize the environmental movement on the conservation of natural resources. It is regarded as the largest civic observance in the world day, activated over 20 million Americans from all walks of life and is widely credited with launching the modern environmental movement.
The first Earth Day celebrations took place in 1970 in the United State of America where more than 20 million people participated in a march to protest against deterioration of the environment.