As part of support of efforts by the World Health Organization, 14 African countries and many partners pledged over $45 million to the WHO Investment Round, a three-month-old initiative aimed at generating sustainable financing for the organization at the centre of the global health architecture.
The commitments were made during the WHO Regional Committee for Africa, with heads of state and government from across the continent underscoring the importance of investing in global health and ensuring a strong WHO.
The countries that pledged are Botswana, Cabo Verde, Chad, Congo, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Namibia, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania and The Gambia.
Other partners joined in making commitments of support to WHO and committing to providing pledges later in the year, including Helmsley Charitable Trust, World Diabetes Foundation, Roche, Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, African Development Bank and the WHO Foundation.
In his remarks, the Director-General of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, thanked the African Region Member States for actively supporting the agency’s first Investment Round to mobilize predictable and flexible resources needed for our core work over the next four years,
On her part, WHO Regional Director for Africa, Matshidiso Moeti, said, “A strong, predictable and sustainably financed WHO is essential for our region and the world to meet the multiple health threats we face; and support the prevention of disease based on the vast evidence at our disposal.
According to her, every pledge and every partnership counts, “Together, we can achieve a future where health and well-being are accessible to all”, she said.
