President of Malawi, Joyce Banda, has confirmed her attendance at EDD13. Having participated in the 2012 edition of European Development Days, her second appearance will see her intervene with a keynote address in the session 'Finishing & moving beyond the health MDGs: How can we break the barriers for universal and sustainable access to quality healthcare?' on  Tuesday 26 November.

An educator and grassroots women's rights activist, she took office as Malawi's fourth president and first female president in April 2012. Prior to this, she was Vice President of Malawi from 2009-12 and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006-09. Previously, she served as a Member of Parliament and Minister for Gender, Children’s Affairs and Community Services and before her political career was the founder of the Joyce Banda Foundation, the National Association of Business Women (NABW), the Young Women Leaders Network, and the Hunger Project.

In addition to her strong commitment on the issue of child stunting in Malawi and championing the G8 initiative, President Banda has been engaged as Co-chair for the UNAIDS and The Lancet Commission: Moving from AIDS to Sustainable Health, as Champion for AIDS, Malaria and TB in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region nominated by the African heads of states, and most recently as International Champion Against Sexual Violence nominated by the UN Secretary-General.

Her country, Malawi, is a small nation in southern Africa with a population of about 13 million. It is one of the least developed countries with very low life expectancy. Two thirds of the population live below the national poverty line and more than one in five people live in ultra poverty – unable to afford basic minimum food requirements. Despite this, Malawi is among a group of countries in sub-Saharan Africa making significant progress on a number of Millennium Development Goals, notably towards reducing child mortality, ensuring environmental sustainability, and eliminating gender disparity in primary and secondary education.

We look forward to welcoming President Banda to Brussels for EDD13. Her session — and all auditorium panel sessions — will be available via live web-streaming on this website. More details will be announced in advance of the forum.