Healthcare, football in 32nd AU summit opening session

BY

-

Sun, 10 Feb 2019 - 05:33 GMT

BY

Sun, 10 Feb 2019 - 05:33 GMT

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, speaks during a discussion on innovation hosted by Reuters in Washington, U.S., April 18, 2016. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, speaks during a discussion on innovation hosted by Reuters in Washington, U.S., April 18, 2016. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo

CAIRO - 10 February 2019: The opening speech of the 32nd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union was delivered by Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki.

Faki congratulated armed groups in Central Africa for achieving reconciliation. He stressed that radical solutions have to be found to eliminate the refugees crisis in the continent. He added that Africa is improving in terms of financial control and accountability.

“We reinforced our partnerships with other regions... re-launched the peace fund currently worth $89 million,” President of Rwanda and Outgoing Chairperson of AU Paul Kagame said.

Poverty and Healthcare

Bill Gates said that he learnt more about the needs of Africa after Nelson Mandela asked for help in 1994 to fund South Africa’s election. “The number of children born in Africa will be equal to the number of children born worldwide in the future. That requires a vision so they would find opportunities, and fulfill their needs in terms of infrastructure, modern transportation networks, telecommunication,” Gates highlighted.

“We decided to provide contraceptives, treatment for different diseases,. We have invested $15 billion to combat poverty and different diseases, and secure vaccines. We operate in the fields of agriculture and education. All that serves investment in human capital. That is crucial.

We have operated over the past two decades in Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Nigeria. We worked on combating AIDS,” Gates stated.

Director General of the WHO Tedros Adhanom highlighted that universal health insurance would change the world. “I would like to thank Kagame and Fiki for the meeting and what they achieved in that realm,” Adhanon said.

“The best and smartest investment is the one in the sector of healthcare...That would change the quality of life of citizens,” Adhanon stressed saying that prevention is better than treatment.

The WHO director general concluded his speech by three demands. One is continuous efforts towards the universal health insurance. Second is that member states make healthcare a top priority. Third is working to meet goals pertinent to healthcare in the 2063 Agenda.

Football

“We all know that football is more than a game. It has social and economic impact. Entire countries and youth feel proud when they achieve victory. Football is a means to achieve economic growth and gender equality,” President of FIFA Gianni Infantino said.

“Africa is more than a continent. It has a growing influence worldwide,” FIFA president said citing African countries like Cameroon that achieved achieved victory over European countries such as Germany and Italy.

“Youth compose the majority of the African population and they admire football. $120 million are spent monthly worldwide on infrastructure necessary for football. We are launching partnership with AU in three realms. One is combating corruption. Second is education. Third is infrastructure such as football fields,” Infantino stated.

Comments

0

Leave a Comment

Be Social