Delivered by H.E. Amb. Amma Adomaa Twum-Amoah
Commissioner for Health, Humanitarian Affairs and Social Development
DR. MEKDES DABA, HONOURABLE MINISTER OF HEALTH OF THE FEDERAL DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ETHIOPIA,
HONOURABLE MINISTERS OF HEALTH FROM AFRICA AND THE CARIBBEAN,
YOUR EXCELLENCY, DR. CARLA NATALIE BARNETT, SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY (CARICOM),
YOUR EXCELLENCIES AMBASSADORS,
HEADS OF DELEGATIONS,
REPRESENTATIVES OF PARTNER ORGANISATIONS,
DISTINGUISHED GUESTS,
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,

➢ It is a profound honour to welcome you all to Addis Ababa for this Second Joint Health Ministers Meeting of Africa and the Caribbean. On behalf of the African Union Commission, I extend our gratitude to the Government and people of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia for their warm hospitality and our partners, CARICOM and HeDPAC for standing with us in this collective endeavour.

➢ This meeting is about more than dialogue. It affirms a political reality: Africa and the Caribbean are bound by shared history, common identity and a collective destiny. The AU–CARICOM Memorandum of Understanding, which recognises CARICOM as the sixth region of Africa, calls on us to transform this unity into concrete cooperation institutions.

➢ Our shared history has deep roots in the vision of the founding fathers and thinkers who shaped our path: Haile Selassie, who reminded us that “history teaches us that unity is strength”; Kwame Nkrumah, who taught us that independence is meaningless unless it is linked to the total liberation — and I would add, and the development — of all our peoples; Marcus Garvey, who warned that “a people without the knowledge of their past is like a tree without roots”; and Walter Rodney, who reminded us that actual development must be people-centred, rooted in justice and equality.

➢ Today, we are called upon to carry this legacy forward — to turn unity into action and solidarity into solutions.

➢ Honourable Ministers, we gather at a moment when crises threaten to erode the gains we have secured. Our regions face the double burden of infectious and non-communicable diseases. We are constrained by persistent shortages of skilled health workers and chronically underfinanced health systems. The accelerating climate crisis is already taking lives, disrupting livelihoods and weakening fragile infrastructure. These are not abstract threats — they are the daily realities of our citizens.

➢ Yet, despite these challenges, we have the agency to shape our shared future. Guided by Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want, and anchored in the Africa Health Strategy 2016–2030, our deliberations today must reaffirm our shared vision, priorities and sovereignty. The AU Digital Health Strategy reminds us that technology, including artificial intelligence, must serve as a tool for empowerment, equity and innovation within our contexts.

Our discussions today will revolve around four imperatives:
1. Sustainable financing – mobilising domestic resources and exploring innovative mechanisms to reduce dependency;

2. Health workforce development – scaling up training, certification and retention while encouraging cross-regional collaboration;

3. Climate resilience – embedding resilience into health planning and climate-proofing our systems: and

4. Digital health and AI – harnessing technology to improve efficiency and equity while safeguarding sovereignty.

➢ Honourable Ministers, Excellencies, health is the foundation of security, prosperity and sovereignty. Without resilient systems, economic growth is unattainable, political stability uncertain and the promise of Agenda 2063 unfulfilled. To invest in health is not optional; it is the most strategic political choice we can make.

➢ This meeting must, therefore, mark a shift from dialogue to action. It is our opportunity to speak with one voice in global health governance and to demand reforms that reflect the realities of our people. It is also a chance to strengthen South–South cooperation as a vital instrument of self-reliance, unity and mutual learning. And in keeping with the broader HHS mandate, let us remember that social protection and humanitarian resilience are inseparable from health security and social development.

➢ As we leave Addis Ababa, let us commit to clear and actionable steps to transform Africa and the Caribbean from perceived peripheries of the global health system into equal partners, innovators and leaders.

➢ Together, we can turn shared challenges into shared opportunities. Together, we can deliver Universal Health Coverage, achieve our continental and regional goals, and safeguard the dignity of future generations. And as Bob Marley sang, “Africa unite, for in unity lies our freedom and our future.”

Africa and the Caribbean: two regions, one voice, one future.

I thank you.