His Highness Sheikh Theyab bin Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Head of the Presidential Office for Development Affairs and Families of Martyrs, Chairman of the International Humanitarian Affairs Council, met yesterday, Wednesday, with Bill Gates, Chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, who is currently visiting the country.
The meeting was attended by Her Excellency Maryam bint Mohammed Al Muhairi, Head of the International Affairs Office in the Presidential Office, and Member of the International Humanitarian Affairs Council.
During the meeting, ways of cooperation and joint work were discussed, and the progress made in joint initiatives between the UAE and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in the fields of health and agriculture globally was reviewed, and the possibilities of harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to enhance the ability to meet development challenges in the health, education and food systems sectors.
The two parties also discussed ways to cooperate to improve people’s lives and livelihoods globally, including combating preventable diseases such as polio and neglected tropical diseases.
Since 2011, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the State, may God protect him, has provided significant support to global efforts to eradicate polio, including funding the urgent polio vaccination campaign that was launched in Gaza during the months of September and October.
During the meeting, the achievements achieved in a number of pioneering initiatives that were previously announced during the Conference of the Parties (COP28) last year, and which were launched with joint support by the UAE and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, were reviewed during the meeting.
The conference announcements at that time included the unveiling of a major expansion of the Last Mile Fund, which is a multi-donor fund established in 2017 at the initiative of His Highness the President, “may God protect him,” setting among its goals the elimination of two neglected tropical diseases on the African continent, which are… River blindness and lymphatic filariasis.
The meeting included a review of the progress made by the Agricultural Innovation Partnership, an initiative launched by the UAE with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to advance climate efforts and strengthen food systems.
ظهرت في الأصل على sharjah24.ae