Young people should participate in the reform of the United Nations system to deepen global cooperation and protect their interests, the Assistant Secretary-General of Youth Affairs, Felipe Paullier, has said.

In a keynote address at the African Youth Consultative Forum on the UN Summit of the Future 2024 held in Addis Ababa, Mr. Paullier said the youth must be part of the discussion process in the countdown to the Summit of the Future because multilateralism augurs well for youth inclusion in securing a better future.

Describing the Summit of the Future as an opportunity for transformation in the UN system and the future of the youth, Mr. Paullier said the world needs a different multilateral system because ‘we are not going to be able to address the challenges of our grandchildren if we continue to work with a system that was designed by our grandparents’.

“We need more than ever your voices in this process, we need your voice addressing your governments so that the positions governments take in the Summit of the Future represent the voices of the young people at the country level,” said Mr. Paullier, emphasizing that the Summit was an opportunity to act and foster meaningful engagement by the youth.

“We need to create a mechanism for meaningful engagement and we need to unpack what is meaningful engagement because meaningful youth engagement is about addressing issues that affect young people,” he said, adding, “Meaningful engagement is about how to address the issues of unemployment that affect young people in this region and across the world, we need to unpack meaningful engagement processes to address mental health challenges and to  address effectively the climate crisis.”

Mr. Paullier invited the youth to support an open letter recently issued by the Youth Affairs office to global leaders highlighting the need for transformation in multilateralism and the urgency of young people to have meaningful engagement.

“The problem is not in young people, the problem is in the institutions we have. We have 19th-century institutions to respond to the challenges of the 21st century, so we need to transform these institutions and if we do not transform them we are ruined,” he said.

In an open engagement with Mr. Paullier, youths related several challenges they faced that needed to be addressed urgently. Young people expressed concern with high unemployment and limited economic opportunities. In addition, they worried about worsening insecurity in some parts of Africa, growing populist regimes with restrictions on the media and freedom of expression, and the silencing of the voices of young people.

Responding to the concerns raised by the youth, Mr. Paullier said safe spaces for civil engagement of young people were needed and these can come about by having a strong multilateral system that protects human rights.

ECA Director of Strategic Planning, Oversight and Results Division, Said Adejumobi, the world was globalized, and what happens in Europe and elsewhere has an impact on Africa, making collective action and moral responsibility important.

“It is not only in Africa that the civil space is shrinking it is also over the world so the democratic space is shrinking and we are seeing the rise of authoritarianism and authoritarianism is associated with declining civil rights and liberties for people around the world and how can we as young people reclaim that and what is our role in doing so,” he asked.

Speaking on migration, Mr. Adejumobi said Africans needed to engender dignity at home by being allowed to move across borders without restrictions. He said migration has underpinned the socio-economic development of countries all over the world and it must be viewed positively.

“We need to go beyond the criminalization of migration and create a new narrative around that because intra-African migration is almost 70 percent of the migration dynamic in Africa but because of sensationalization; people move more within the continent than outside.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

On April 25, Administrator Samantha Power and Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Richard Verma concluded a three day trip to Angola with a visit to Benguela Province and the Port of Lobito. The Administrator, Deputy Secretary, and U.S. Ambassador Tulinabo S. Mushingi were the highest ranking U.S. government officials to go from Luanda, and traveling on the railway that will one day form part of the first trans-African railroad. 

In Benguela, Administrator Power and Deputy Secretary Verma met with the Vice Governor of Benguela, Lídia Celma Gonçalves Machado Amaro, and Angolan Minister of Agriculture António Francisco De Assis before formally launching the $5 million expansion of the USAID’s Women in Angola Farming, a public-private partnership focused on empowering women farmers. This project’s expansion into four additional provinces, three of which are in the Lobito Corridor, demonstrates the U.S. commitment to drive inclusive economic growth through the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI). Before the launch, Administrator Power spoke with women farmers who are part of the project, as well as those who will benefit from its expansion. The Administrator also met with Nelson Carrinho, CEO of Group Carrinho, Angola’s largest agribusiness and a new private sector partner in the project that will guarantee the purchase of produce from supported communities while also offering training and skills development.

Administrator Power and Deputy Secretary Verma also met with Afrimoney field agents to learn more about how USAID is partnering with U.S.-based mobile operator Africell to support the expansion of mobile money services in Angola, critical for facilitating transactions among small farmers in rural communities who do not have access to bank accounts.

The Administrator and Deputy Secretary then traveled by train from Benguela Railway station to the Lobito Port station with Angolan Minister of Transport Ricardo Viegas de Abreu. A cornerstone of the Lobito Corridor project is rehabilitating the rail system, which the U.S. government is supporting through partnership with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and the Government of Angola as part of President Biden’s Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment. 

During a tour of the Port of Lobito, Administrator Power heard about the history of the Port and the vision for its expansion through PGI-led investments in the Lobito Corridor. She reiterated the U.S. government’s commitment to developing the Lobito Corridor with our African and G7 partners, and underscored that USAID is dedicated to ensuring that investments in the Corridor also support Angola’s development objectives of economic diversification and equitable growth. Administrator Power also highlighted a new partnership with the Ministry of Transportation to increase private investment in infrastructure through open and transparent procurement. 

The Administrator and Deputy Secretary then concluded their visit to Angola with a press conference with the Minister of Transport.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Philippine Ambassador to Kenya Marie Charlotte G. Tang paid a courtesy call on Governor Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir of Mombasa County during her visit to the city of Mombasa on 21-23 April 2024. The two officials discussed their shared interest in the blue economy, with the Philippines being an archipelagic country and Mombasa being a major port city along the Indian Ocean coast.

Governor Nassir mentioned the ongoing infrastructure projects and the creation of a new special economic zone in Mombasa and invited the Philippines to become a partner in supporting the county’s development goals. He also expressed Mombasa’s hope to learn from the best practices of port cities in the Philippines, including by entering into sister-city arrangements.

Ambassador Tang commended Governor Nassir and the county government for their efforts to bring development to the citizens of Mombasa. She also emphasized the value of promoting people-to-people exchanges with Mombasa, including through tourism and sports. Amb. Tang also paid a courtesy call to Captain William Ruto, the Managing Director of the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA).

Capt. Ruto described the Philippines as a leader in the blue economy and noted that every ship that docks at the Mombasa Port is likely to have a Filipino seafarer in it, a testament to the strong presence of the Philippines in the global maritime sector. Both officials further discussed potential collaboration on capacity-building in the sector.

Following the meeting, KPA officials provided Ambassador Tang with a tour of the facilities of the Mombasa Port, one of the busiest ports in East Africa which services not only Kenya but also the landlocked countries of Uganda, Burundi, and Rwanda, as well as the eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Mombasa, the smallest of the 47 counties in Kenya, has maintained its centuries-old position as a hub for regional and international trade. Mombasa City is the oldest in Kenya and is the country’s second-largest after Nairobi. Mombasa’s fine beaches and rich cultural heritage, along with the presence of a major international seaport, airport, and railway, have long made the city a popular destination both for tourists and investors.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Department of Foreign Affairs, Republic of the Philippines.

Health experts from across Africa, policymakers, civil society organizations and partners meeting for the first-ever conference on strengthening efforts to address the burden of severe chronic disease have called for increased recognition of the emergency presented by noncommunicable diseases and the premature deaths they cause.

The International Conference on PEN-Plus in Africa (ICPPA) meeting, held from 22 to 25 April 2024, highlighted “grossly inequitable access to prevention, diagnosis, treatment and ongoing care” and committed to advocate for increased focus on chronic and severe noncommunicable diseases (NCD) within existing health systems, and extending prevention, diagnosis, treatment and quality care to the primary health level.

The meeting in Tanzania’s commercial capital Dar es Salaam called on governments to provide leadership in public health to ensure adequate and quality services, to act to reduce the known risk factors for NCDs and to increase domestic investments.

The conference, which was dedicated to mainstreaming strategies to alleviate the burden of severe chronic diseases at first-level referral health facilities, highlighted the urgency of decentralizing care for type 1 diabetes, sickle cell disease, and rheumatic and congenital heart diseases, to save millions of lives over the next decade, including those of many children and young adults afflicted by these conditions.

In the African region, healthcare services for severe NCDs are predominantly confined to major urban centres, leaving countless individuals without sufficient care and burdened with high financial costs.

Hosted by the Government of Tanzania, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) in the African region and other partners including Helmsley Charitable Trust, the three-day event provided a platform for health experts, policymakers, civil society organizations, donors, private sector representatives and NCDs affected persons, survivors and community advocates to expedite political and financial backing for PEN-Plus, an innovative healthcare delivery model birthed in Africa.

“We are honoured to have you all here for this critical conference at a time when hundreds of thousands of Africans of all ages suffer preventable, premature deaths from NCDs due to health inequities. This is a chance for us to unite to advance regional efforts to tackle the crisis, by investing in and scaling up PEN-Plus,” said Hon. Ummy Mwalimu, Minister of Health of the United Republic of Tanzania.

Participants delved into strategies to reinforce NCD management within health systems continent-wide and sought collaborative opportunities to align PEN-Plus with other regional public health programmes.

“Africa is severely affected, and in the region, more than any place in the world, NCDs are called ‘the silent epidemic’,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “Africa must invest more now in addressing NCDs with adequate and sustained resources. With support from partners, we aim to strengthen the implementation of the PEN-Plus Regional Strategy, mainstream the prevention and control of chronic and severe NCDs in the region and ensure that people living with these chronic and severe conditions receive the lifesaving care they deserve.”

All 47 member states of the WHO African region have endorsed the model as their official strategy for caring for individuals with severe NCDs. To date, 17 countries have initiated PEN-Plus, with 11 actively implementing the programme.

The PEN-Plus strategy expands upon the WHO PEN (Package of Essential Noncommunicable disease interventions), which decentralizes care for common NCDs to primary healthcare facilities. PEN-Plus extends this care to first-level referral facilities, such as district hospitals, and has demonstrated significant success in increasing patient access to treatment for severe NCDs, improving patient outcomes.

“PEN-Plus addresses a critical gap in health care for the world’s poorest billion, bringing lifesaving chronic care for severe NCDs to first-level rural hospitals for the first time. It also bridges major gaps in health systems for training, mentorship and referral pathways,” said Dr Ana Mocumbi, co-chair of the NCDI Poverty Network.

The Government of Tanzania, WHO Africa, and The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust co-sponsored the conference, with the NCDI Poverty Network serving as a technical partner.

“PEN-Plus showcases the lifesaving impact of collaborating with local health leaders and designing health systems around people,” said Dr Gina Agiostratidou, type 1 diabetes Program Director for the Helmsley Charitable Trust. “Now, children with noncommunicable diseases in rural areas can receive the care they need to lead full, vibrant lives. At ICPPA, we have had the opportunity to join partners in discussing how we can expand the program to reach even more communities.”

The consensus among experts, leaders, and partners at the conference is clear: PEN-Plus is a reliable system with a proven track record, capable of delivering lifesaving care to those with severe NCDs in rural sub-Saharan Africa  – investing in PEN-Plus represents a historic and pivotal collective action that will save and improve millions of lives, reduce healthcare costs, enhance health system capacities, boost productivity, promote equity, and contribute to achieving Universal Health Coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of WHO Regional Office for Africa.