UN for centralised Parliament support
The United Nations (UN) has centralised its support towards the National Assembly to promote a unified approach.
After signing an agreement at Parliament Building in Lilongwe on Tuesday, UN resident coordinator Maria Jose Torres said in an interview the new approach will help the UN provide the best support towards Parliament as it will tap from its best pool of experts from all agencies.
She said: “We had individual agencies working with different committees of Parliament. We did not have a single coordinating document that could put all of us together. It is also ensuring that the Malawi Parliament has access to the best of UN for the benefit of the nation.”
Torres added that by supporting Parliament, the UN will reach out to grass roots people, saying: “There is this way MPs connect with people on the ground, so we want to strengthen their aspirations to be more connected.”
On his part, Speaker of Parliament Richard Msowoya said the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will improve the National Assembly’s oversight role.
He said: “As you may be aware, we have budget office where UNDP, Unicef and other UN agencies are supporting us as we undergo our responsibilities of providing oversight, enquiries and other responsibilities. This will bring together such support.”
Leader of the House Kondwani Nankhumwa, representatives from different UN agencies in the country and representatives from National Assembly were also present at the function.
