His Excellencey Bingu wa Mutharika

President of the Republic of Malawi

c/o Office of the President and Cabinet

Capital Hill Circle, Private Bag 301

Capital City, Lilongwe 3, Malawi

Your Excellency:

On behalf of United Religions Initiative (URI), a global interfaith organization whose purpose is to promote enduring daily interfaith cooperation, to end religiously motivated violence and create cultures of peace, justice and healing for the Earth and all living beings, we present our greetings of peace and blessing to you and to the people of Malawi, and would like to bring the following serious matter into your kind attention.

We are writing this letter to express our deep concern on behalf of our 500,000 members in 78 countries, including Malawi, over the recent violence that resulted in many deaths and injuries and in the suspension of urgently needed international aid to your beautiful country.

URI has had a long-standing presence in Malawi, with eight of our member organizations working there on issues as diverse as healthcare, education and economic empowerment. As an organization with Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council and dedicated to the issues of peace, justice and healing, we join with the United Nations and others in Malawi and the international community in urging Your Excellency to reject any form of violence and refrain from issuing provocative statements and threats against your people.

We urge you to instead work in collaboration with coordinators of different groups: NGO’s; religious leaders; civil society leaders; and other community leaders such as chiefs; and to honour the people’s demands, for the good of Malawi.

We appreciate your contribution in Africa as Malawi`s first head of state to assume the position of African Union chair in 2010, and your vision for the African Food Basket Initiative in making food security a priority in your agenda. In the same spirit, we sincerely hope that very soon you will find a way to work together with your people to resolve the many critical issues your country is facing today. We at URI stand ready to support the restoration of peace and long-term prosperity in the great nation of Malawi.

His Excellencey Bingu wa Mutharika

President of the Republic of Malawi

c/o Office of the President and Cabinet

Capital Hill Circle, Private Bag 301

Capital City, Lilongwe 3, Malawi

Your Excellency:

On behalf of United Religions Initiative (URI), a global interfaith organization whose purpose is to promote enduring daily interfaith cooperation, to end religiously motivated violence and create cultures of peace, justice and healing for the Earth and all living beings, we present our greetings of peace and blessing to you and to the people of Malawi, and would like to bring the following serious matter into your kind attention.

We are writing this letter to express our deep concern on behalf of our 500,000 members in 78 countries, including Malawi, over the recent violence that resulted in many deaths and injuries and in the suspension of urgently needed international aid to your beautiful country.

URI has had a long-standing presence in Malawi, with eight of our member organizations working there on issues as diverse as healthcare, education and economic empowerment. As an organization with Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council and dedicated to the issues of peace, justice and healing, we join with the United Nations and others in Malawi and the international community in urging Your Excellency to reject any form of violence and refrain from issuing provocative statements and threats against your people.

We urge you to instead work in collaboration with coordinators of different groups: NGO’s; religious leaders; civil society leaders; and other community leaders such as chiefs; and to honour the people’s demands, for the good of Malawi.

We appreciate your contribution in Africa as Malawi`s first head of state to assume the position of African Union chair in 2010, and your vision for the African Food Basket Initiative in making food security a priority in your agenda. In the same spirit, we sincerely hope that very soon you will find a way to work together with your people to resolve the many critical issues your country is facing today. We at URI stand ready to support the restoration of peace and long-term prosperity in the great nation of Malawi.