Gates Foundation pledges $50 million to increase access to COVID-19 vaccines
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced a $50 million commitment to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The pledge will support COVID-19 vaccine purchasing through Gavi’s COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) as well as delivery of these vaccines to 92 lower-income countries.
The pledge was announced at Gavi’s COVAX AMC Summit, an event co-hosted by the government of Japan and Gavi that gathered world leaders, the private sector, civil society, and technical partners to build support to procure COVID-19 vaccines and equitably distribute them to lower-income countries.
“The world must urgently come together to expand equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, or we risk more deaths and the emergence of new variants that could prolong the pandemic for everyone,” said Mark Suzman, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “Thanks to today’s contributions, especially Japan’s generous pledge and its leadership in global health, we’ve taken an important step towards that goal. This summit is a powerful example of what can be achieved when we act collectively to control the pandemic and save lives.”
Reducing the prevalence of domestic servitude in Ethiopia project launch
The United States Government announces the launch of the “Reducing the Prevalence of Domestic Servitude in Ethiopia” project, funded by U.S. Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons (TIP Office). The Ethiopia focused project is part of the TIP Office’s global Program to End Modern Slavery (PEMS), which funds transformational efforts that seek to achieve a measurable and substantial reduction of the prevalence of human trafficking in populations and regions within countries worldwide. The TIP Office partners with foreign governments, international organizations, other federal agencies, civil society, the private sector, and survivors of human trafficking to develop and implement effective strategies to combat human trafficking.
The Reducing the Prevalence of Domestic Servitude in Ethiopia project aims to reduce trafficking of child domestic workers in Addis Ababa, and to reduce trafficking of Ethiopians migrating to the Middle East as domestic workers from Addis Ababa and the Amhara region.
Huawei, Addis Ababa University Launch the first Huawei ICT Practice Center in Ethiopia
Huawei together with Addis Ababa University officially launched Huawei-AAU ICT Practice Center in Addis Ababa Institute of Technology. The project is realized by Huawei with the aim of delivering hands-on practical experience for students and professionals. The target of the center is to train more than 2000 engineers including students and teachers to boost talent ecosystem of Ethiopia in the coming three years.
The practice center located in AAU pharmacy campus was inaugurated in the presence of Mulu Nega, State Minster of Science & Higher Education, Philippe Wang, Executive Vice-President of Huawei Northern Africa, and Prof. Tassew Weldehanna, President of Addis Ababa University, along with other invited guests and members of media.
As part of the cooperation, Huawei installed the up-to-date telecom equipment in AAU pharmacy campus for educational purpose. After 3 years’ know-how transfer, Addis Ababa University will gain 100% ownership of the ICT Practice Center. The 2.1 Million USD investment of the project includes donation scope of 1.9 Million USD worth equipment for training and demonstration, and Train the Trainer program to Addis Ababa Institute of Technology (AAiT) teaching staff.
