Brazzaville, 21 July 2015 - A high level delegation from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) has begun a four-day official visit to the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa (AFRO) in Brazzaville, Congo from 21-24 July 2015.

The aim of the visit is to review ongoing collaboration between the two organizations and explore new ways of working together to improve the health of people in the African Region.

An initial team of senior leaders from BMGF including Dr Steve Landry Director, Multilateral Partnerships and Mr Tom Hurley, Deputy Director, Multilateral Partnerships, began discussions with the senior management team of WHO/AFRO today. They will later be joined by Dr Chris Elias, President, Global Development Programme, Dr Trevor Mundel, President, Global Health Programme, and other high ranking officials of the foundation.

Welcoming the delegation on behalf of Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr Joseph Cabore, the Director for Programme Management expressed gratitude to BMGF for the tremendous support given to the work of WHO in the African Region. He said that the visit provides a unique opportunity to work together on common interests and priorities.

Dr Cabore gave an overview of the health challenges facing the Region, and the African Health Transformation Programme highlighting the strategic priorities of WHO in the African Region from 2015-2020 which are:

1. improving health security;
2. strengthening national health systems;
3. sustaining focus on the health-related MDGs/SDGs;
4. addressing the social determinants of health; and
5. transforming the African Region into a responsive and results-driven Organization.

He underscored ongoing efforts to create a regional health organization that is results-driven, transparent and accountable, adequately resourced and equipped to deliver on its mandate.

In his remarks, Dr Steve Landry pointed out that the focus of the BMGF’s work is to identify what are the greatest needs, and where the greatest impact could be made. He also said that the foundation works with partners to deliver proven tools and innovative solutions that are affordable and reliable. He emphasized that the ongoing work depends on the quality and strength of BMGF’s partnerships which is a key component of the work.  “We acknowledge that you are a huge partner and we need to work together”, he said.

The delegation will hold a series of working sessions with various WHO AFRO Programme Clusters on the BMGF funded projects and to identify specific areas of strengthening collaboration. They will also take part in a Town Hall session with WHO staff in the African Region where BMGF’s work in the African Region will be highlighted.

____________________________________

For more information, please contact:

Helena O’Malley, Omalleym [at] who.int (Omalleym[at]who[dot]int)  Tel +47-241-39341
Collins Boakye-Agyemang,  Boakyeagyemangc [at] who.int (Boakyeagyemangc[at]who[dot]int);  Tel +47-241-39420, | Cel: +242 06 614 2401