- Excellency, Susan Nakhumicha, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Health, Republic of Kenya
- Excellencies- Ministers from participating countries- Republic of São Tomé e Príncipe; and the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
- Excellency Keith Hansen, World Bank Country Director for Kenya, Somalia, Rwanda and Uganda
- Excellency,Prof, Yoswa Dambisya, Director General East, Central, and Southern Africa-Health Community (ECSA);
- Other Distinguished partners from the African Union Commission and Africa CDC; UN agencies; regional and international organisations,
- Heads of Delegations and Senior Government Officials
- Excellencies Ambassadors and Heads of Diplomatic Corps
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen
I am greatly honored to join you this morning to launch the Health Emergency, Preparedness, Response, and Resilience (HEPRR), a Multiphase Programmematic Approach (MPA) Programme in the Eastern and Southern Africa Region.
IGAD is grateful to be part of this strategic partnership, as it clearly adds value to our Member States’ efforts in managing health emergences and pandemics.
As we convene here today, the Republic of Kenya is recovering from catastrophic flooding that left over 289 people dead, with many livelihoods and property destroyed. We condole with the families and people of Kenya for this great loss. This disaster is a vivid reminder of the devastating impacts of climate change and its implications across many sectors, including health.
We commend the government of Kenya, through the Ministry of Health led by Hon. Susan Nakhumicha, for her leadership in hosting this launch event during this difficult time.
We pledge IGAD’s support to all our member states, with regular weather and climate information services through our Centre of Excellence (ICPAC), hosted here in the Republic of Kenya. This Centre serves as an effective instrument for information sharing and utilisation among our member states
IGAD will work towards bridging the gap between early warning and early action for our Member States through enhancing the development of requisite anticipatory interventions and disaster risk mitigation measures.
Excellencies,
Join me in applauding the commitment and leadership of ministers and other policymakers from participating countries in Eastern and South Africa, for this truly unique Multiphase Programmatic Approach (MPA) adopted by this program.
For IGAD, this is the second program employing this innovative approach (after the Food Systems Resilience Program) which also covers East and Southern Africa Region and is supported by the World Bank.
This regional program is timely, as we recover from the global COVID-19 pandemic. The lessons learned from this unprecedented crisis did not only change the IGAD region, but the entire African continent and the world.
All of us remember how COVID-19 disrupted not only our lives but also the health sectors everywhere.
This Health Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Resilience Programme is a testament to our collective determination to build on our experiences and lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic and other outbreaks such as Cholera and Ebola, to strengthen our health systems to confront similar challenges
I must point out that this programme is an answer to the political Declaration adopted at the UN General Assembly in September 2023, committing all Member States to act on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response (PPPR) and the need for international cooperation in this regard.
Excellencies, as I conclude,
Let me thank, most sincerely, the World Bank for the funding made available (15 million USD) for the implementation of this strategically important programme.
I would like to reiterate my personal commitment and that of IGAD colleagues to this Health Emergency programme, and we shall invest all necessary efforts to ensure its full, effective, and impactful implementation.
Let us be the generation that builds a future where pandemics do not cripple our communities, but where we stand together, prepared and strong.
Finally, I take this opportunity to again sincerely thank the World Bank team and their leadership for their strong support to our effort in strategic mandate and agenda.
Thank you.
