Ethiopian Informer
ADDIS ABABA, May 4 (EI) — African heads of states and governments on Saturday commended the World Health Organization (WHO) for its global leadership role in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The African heads of states and governments expressed their appreciation for the global leadership role of the World Health Organization (WHO) in response to the outbreak and spread of COVID-19,” the African Union (AU) Bureau of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government said in a statement issued on Saturday following a teleconference meeting of African leaders.
The AU heads of states and governments further “reaffirmed their unequivocal support for the WHO, under the capable stewardship of its Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,” the final meeting outcome statement issued by the AU read.
The teleconference meeting of African leaders, which was convened by South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa who is also the current Chairperson of the AU, also gathered leaders including Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi, Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Felix Tshisekedi, Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina, Chad’s President Idriss Deby, Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, Gabon’s President Ali Bongo, Niger’s President Issoufou Mahamadou, as well as Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.
The virtual meeting, which discussed joint continental action to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic towards mitigating the pandemic’s economic impact on the African continent, also joined by the Chairperson of the AU Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat, Director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) John Nkengasong, also participated in the teleconference meeting.
According to the latest figures from the Africa CDC, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the African continent has climbed to 44,483 as the death toll from the pandemic also reached 1,801 as of late Monday.
According to the 55-member pan African bloc, the fourth meeting convened by the AU Bureau of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government concerning the COVID-19 pandemic “provided a platform for heads of the regional economic communities to brief the regional measures taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“The heads of states and governments took note of the current status of the outbreak in the Continent and expressed concern about the increased infection rate reported as of 29 April 2020, including approximately 1,500 deaths,” the final meeting outcome statement read.
Expressing their concern on the current rate of infections per regions in Africa, the leaders also “commended the work being done by the Africa CDC to scale up testing capacity on the continent to ensure that at least 10 million tests are conducted in the next four months through the AU Partnership for Accelerated COVID-19 Testing Initiative (PACT).”
The AU heads of states and governments also agreed to use their leverage to ensure that Africa has access to the diagnostics required to meet the target of 10 million tests in the next coming months, it was noted.
They also expressed “deep appreciation” to the Bureau of the Assembly of the AU Commission for its initiatives, mainly the formation of the Africa COVID-19 Response Fund with pledges amounting to 61 million U.S. dollars, engaging the international community to support Africa, the appointment of AU COVID-19 Special Envoys, as well as the mobilization of African business leaders and the private sector in support of the AU continental response strategy to combat COVID-19.
The AU heads of state and governments also called for the AU, through the Africa CDC, to rapidly establish a continental-led platform for pool procurement and distribution.
They also endorsed the call for debt cancellation and the implementation of a comprehensive relief package for African countries in response to COVID-19.
The meeting endorsed the establishment of a forum of African Business Leaders to support efforts by the AU and Member States to implement the continental COVID-19 strategy.
During the discussions, the AU Commission Chairperson acknowledged “the difficult economic situation of AU member states, and urged the countries to pay their statutory contributions to the AU to ensure the continuity of the essential work being carried out on behalf of the Continent during the pandemic.”
