Chakwera kicks off UNGA US working trip with charity reception

President Dr Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera has kicked off his United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) working trip in the US with a charity reception.

President Chakwera on Friday night  attended to a reception co-hosted in his honour  by the Chikondi Health Foundation and the Sarah Walker Foundation at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee.

The event was aimed at mobilizing resources for the health sector in Malawi, following the successful work done by the Chikondi Health Foundation in mobilizing financial and technical support for the operations of Lilongwe’s Blessings Hospital over the past ten years.

To reinforce the President’s call for continued partnership between his Government, which supports CHAM facilities like Blessings Hospital with staffing resources, and partners like CH Foundation, SW Foundation, and Lipscomb University, both the Founder of Blessings Hospital, Dr. Napoleon Dzombe, and the Director, Mr. Harold Banda, attended the event and spoke about the impact this collaboration is having on dozens of thousands of people in rural Malawi.

The leaders of the two Foundations, Mr. Wes Gunn and Dr. Chelsia Harris, as well as the President of Lipscomb University, Dr. Candace McQueen, also praised the Malawi President for ensuring that their partnership in service of Malawians had the necessary support and direction from the Malawi Government.

Delivering the keynote address at the function, President Chakwera spoke about Malawi 2063’s Vision of becoming a self-reliant nation, emphasizing the need for US donors to partner with more health facilities like Blessings Hospital in pursuit of that vision, lauding the project as the embodiment of self-reliance, being a hospital founded by one of Malawi’s most enterprising sons.

He further said that an investment in Malawi’s health sector is a contribution to the human capital development of the country, which is one of the enablers of Malawi’s national vision, thus ensuring that the people of Malawi, whom he described as Malawi’s greatest treasure, are empowered to leverage the natural resources bestowed upon them for their own advancement.

President Chakwera and First Lady Madam Monica Chakwera were accompanied to the reception by Hon. Nancy Tembo, MP, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Khumbize Chiponda, MP, Minister of Health, and Ambassador Justice Esme Chombo, Malawi’s Envoy to the United States, among others.

Prior to the Reception, the delegation was taken on a tour of Lipscomb University’s Schools of Nursing and Engineering, where the President and First Lady interacted with students who travel regularly to Malawi to conduct mobile clinics in rural areas alongside Malawian health workers.

The Malawian delegation returns to New York Saturday, where His Excellency the President has a scheduled meeting with Diaspora Malawians upon arrival.