The government of France, led by President Emmanuel Macron; the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, represented by Bill Gates; the US government and other Global Fund donors have pledged $14.02 billion to end malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis by 2030.This is the biggest amount ever raised for a multilateral health organization, and the largest amount by the Global Fund.For context, this [...]
The Nigerian army has released 25 children, including 23 boys and two girls, that were accused of having ties with Boko Haram insurgents.The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said it received the children on Thursday.Human Rights Watch had reported that thousands of children were detained by the military for allegedly having links with Boko Haram members.The latest release brings the [...]
BY ZAID JURJI AND RAPHAEL NWOZORThe Nigerian government has declared a state of emergency in the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) sector. This action was spurred by the alarming findings revealed in the sector.Under the aegis of UNICEF and its major funding partners, DFID and the European Union, and with technical support from the World Bank and WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring [...]
Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, says he and his wife are lucky to have Aliko Dangote, Africa's richest man, as a friend and partner in battling development issues in Africa. In a note via his blog, Gates said Dangote Foundation is the largest organization in sub-Saharan Africa tackling health and education.The world's richest man for 18 years [...]
Muhammad Sanusi II, the emir of Kano, says Nigeria can achieve the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) by focusing on the education of the girl child. The emir, who was advising President Muhammadu Buhari, northern governors, and other Nigerian stakeholders on the sidelines of the United Nations general assembly (UNGA) in New York, said you do not preach to a [...]
The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) says at least 400,000 children below five years are suffering from severe acute malnutrition in the north-eastern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa.Speaking at a meeting in Maiduguri on Thursday, Aminu Usman, UNICEF nutrition specialist, said at least N4.4 billion is needed to cater to the food needs of the children.Every year, an estimated [...]
Akinwumi Adesina, president of the Africa Development Bank (AfDB), says without peace and security, Nigeria cannot achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The SDGs are development targets set by the United Nations (UN) to help create a better world by the year 2030 -- they are the successors for the millenium development goals (MDGs)Speaking at the United Nations headquarters in New [...]
Jacinda Ardern, the prime minister of New Zealand, says there is no point keeping fossil fuel subsidies while fighting to reverse climate change.Speaking at the Goalkeepers Summit in New York on Wednesday, Ardern said the global leaders must go beyond just gross domestic product (GDP) to driving a wellbeing agenda for the greatest number of people -- without ignoring the [...]
Narendra Modi, prime minister of India, has won the Global Goalkeeper Award for realising the century-old dream of Mahatma Gandhi, regarded as the father of the nation.Modi, in less than five years, led a mission -- known as Swachh Bharat Mission -- which ensured that 600 million people stopped open defecation in one of the world's most populous country.During his [...]
The European Union has launched a new programme with a total funding of €13.5 million targeted at supporting civil society organisations (CSOs) in Nigeria. Ketil Karlsen, head of EU delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, said the programme, tagged ‘Agents for citizen-driven transformation’ (ACT) is designed to improve the capacity of the CSOs. Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, Karlsen said [...]
