Events

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn calls for the development of African Roadmap for malaria elimination

Nine African countries on target to achieve Millennium Development Goals targets on Malaria

Addis Ababa – 25th April 2015: The Chairperson of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance and Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, His Excellency Hailemariam Desalegn made a call for the continental body to develop an African Roadmap to eliminate malaria by 2030.

“The transition from Millennium Development Goals to Sustainable Development Goals should also sustain the gains we have made and move towards malaria elimination as advocated in our Africa 2030 agenda to eliminate malaria” said Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn in a statement delivered on his behalf by Ethiopian Health Minister Dr. Kesetebirhan Admassu during the Big Push to Defeat Malaria by 2030 high level dialogue hosted at the African Union Commission headquarters to commemorate World Malaria Day.

This year’s commemorations come at a pivotal moment when the progress in responding to malaria in Africa includes a 54% decline in malaria mortality rates and a reduction of malaria mortality rates among children by 58% since 2000. Algeria, Botswana, Cape Verde, Eritrea, Namibia, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, South Africa and Swaziland are on track to MDG 6. Increased political commitment and increased funding have helped to reduce malaria incidence by 34% in Africa. In spite of these tremendous results however Africa continues to account for 82% of malaria cases and 90% of malaria deaths worldwide.

“We should work in unison to ensure that the US$1 billion of the estimated annual continental resource requirement is fully funded to ensure that the high-burden African countries are able to replace expiring long-lasting insecticide treated nets” said Dr. Mustapha Sidiki Kaloko, the Commissioner for Social Affairs.

There were exponential increases in funding and implementation for malaria control programmes over the past decade. International disbursements for malaria control significantly increased, rising from less than US$ 0.5 per case (US$ 100 million total spend) in 2000 to more than US$ 8 per case in 2012 (US$ 1.84 billion total spend). These increased funds were focused on Africa. During the meeting various ambassadors underscored the need for more education and research on more tools to address malaria control beyond the use of nets.

The review of the Abuja Call this year recommended its extension to 2030 in line with the 2013 Abuja Declaration which outlines key actions to defeat malaria. Africa has already demonstrated this deep reflection and pace setting through the African Common Position on the Post 2015 Development Agenda and the reengineering of Africa’s health priorities in the context of a new health architecture better prepared for disease surveillance and response. Plans to establish the African Centre for Disease Control and Prevention are already at an advanced stage.

This year the commemorations are being celebrated under the theme “Invest in future, defeat malaria”. The meeting was attended by Ambassadors accredited to the African Union, Universities and various development partners.
AMT/
For further information contact

Ms. Afrah Thabit| | Information and Communication Directorate | African Union Commission | Tel: (251) 11 551 77 00 | | E-mail: thabitma@africa-union.org | Web: www.au.int|Addis Ababa | Ethiopia

Mr. Tawanda Chisango I AIDS WATCH AFRICA (AWA) Program Advocacy & Partnership Expert | Social Affairs | African Union Commission I Mobile +251934167052 | E-mail: chisangot@africa-union.org | Web www.au.int I
Addis Ababa | Ethiopia

African Union The African Union spearheads Africa’s development and integration in close collaboration with African Union Member States, the Regional Economic Communities and African citizens. AU Vision An integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in global arena. Learn more at: http://www.au.int/en/

About the African Leaders Malaria Alliance-The African Leaders Malaria Alliance is a ground breaking coalition of 49 African Heads of State and Government working across country and regional borders to achieve near-zero malaria deaths in Africa by 2015. Learn more at http://www.alma2015.org

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MINISTERIAL SESSION OF THE 1ST MEETING OF THE SPECIALIZED TECHNICAL COMMITTEE ON SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (STC-SDLE-1)

What: The 1st session of the specialized technical committee (STC) on social development, labour and employment
Theme: Social Protection for Inclusive Development

When: 23-24: April

Where: New African Union Conference Centre, AU Headquarters, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Who: The Meeting is organised by the Department of Social Affairs, AUC.

Objectives: The meeting will among others, consider the challenges faced by women in African labour markets, and discuss appropriate and bold measures to improve the status of women in labour markets as well as their social protection needs to contribute to the AU theme of the year 2015.
The first five year priority programme for implementation of the January 2015 AU Assembly declaration and plan of Action on Employment, Poverty Eradication and Inclusive Development will also be considered.
Other social inclusion challenges for vulnerable groups in member states will be addressed, including the expansion of social protection systems to combat poverty and exclusion, as well as to establish synergies among the social development, labour and employment sectors to enable the joint operationalization of the specialised technical committee.
The social impact of Ebola in general and on the nature of social protection interventions required for the affected countries is also on the agenda of the STC-SDLE-1, as well as the AU Agenda 2063 and the contribution of social protection and inclusive development to the development process.

Journalists are invited to attend and cover the opening session of the experts meeting on 23RD April at 09:00.

Further media inquiries and requests for interviews should be directed to:
Mrs Wynne Musabayana | Deputy Head of Communication and Information Division | Information and Communication Directorate | African Union Commission | Tel: (251) 11 551 77 00 | Fax: (251) 11 551 78 44 | E-mail: MusabayanaW@africa-union.org

About the African Union
The African Union spearheads Africa’s development and integration in close collaboration with African Union Member States, the Regional Economic Communities and African citizens. AU Vision: to accelerate progress towards an integrated, prosperous and inclusive Africa, at peace with itself, playing a dynamic role in the continental and global arena, effectively driven by an accountable, efficient and responsive Commission. Learn more at: http://www.au.int/en/

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2 April 2015- Ahead of the operationalisation of the African Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in July 2015 African and Chinese officials met from 26 to 28 March 2015 in Beijing, China to discuss strengthened health collaboration. The roundtable endorsed policy recommendations on disease control and prevention including ways to engage new partners and build strong health systems. The meeting particularly focused on ways to support the African CDC’s continent-wide work in disease surveillance, emergency preparedness and response.

“We deliberated on a set of policy recommendations that we will consider at this year’s ministerial gathering where we will call for strengthened dialogue between China and African countries” said Dr.

Mustapha Sidiki Kaloko, the Commissioner for Social Affairs at the African Union Commission, “the roundtable committed to tailoring Chinese support to African health priorities and increased Chinese and African investments in health” he added.

The key policy recommendations from the roundtable include strengthening health collaboration between China and Africa governments. The meeting further recommended collaboration in the development of resilient and sustainable health systems to support the goal to reach universal health coverage, provision of adequate healthcare and financial protection of all citizens. African and Chinese pharmaceutical companies and the China Chamber of Commerce for Imports and Export of Medicines and Health Products were urged to explore the means of collaboration including joint ventures, technology transfers and shared industrial parks.

The historical cooperation between China and Africa on health has reached another level with the recent China response to the Ebola Outbreak in West Africa. The China CDC is strongly committed to support Africa in strengthening health systems in particular its establishment of the African CDC, in line with the AU heads of State and Government decisions. Towards that end a team of three experts from Chinese CDC will be attending the April African CDC taskforce meeting on the sidelines of the African Union Specialized Technical Committee on Health, Population and Drug control taking place from 13 to 17 April 2015. The Chines experts will subsequently be seconded to the AU for one month to provide further technical support.

The AU Assembly in its Decision Assembly/AU/Dec. 554(XXIV) of January 2015 formally endorsed the establishment of the African CDC and “expressed immense satisfaction for efforts made by the Commission to speed up the process for the establishment of the Centre by mid-2015, pursuant to the relevant Executive Council and Assembly decisions”.

As part of their official visit African Union officials also attended a seven days study visit on the operation of disease control and prevention system and the International Conference on Ebola.
Commitments to building strong health systems from African Union and partners have led to significant progress across the continent. This includes the dramatic reduction in malaria deaths, a decline in HIV incidence and renewed efforts to get maternal health services to those in hard-to-reach areas. International aid from donors has traditionally complemented these efforts, but new and innovative partnerships are becoming increasingly important, specifically with other countries in the Global South. South-to-South cooperation allows African countries to exchange experiences and expertise with other countries that have faced similar health challenges, and that share similar health goals.

For media inquiries contact:
Wynne Musabayana | Deputy Head of Division | Information and Communication Directorate | African Union Commission | Tel: (251) 11 551 77 00 | Fax: (251) 11 551 78 44 | E-mail: MusabayanaW@africa-union.org | Web: www.au.int|Addis Ababa | Ethiopia

Tawanda Chisango | Social Affairs | African Union Commission |Tel: +251115182029 | E-mail: Chisangot@africa-union.org | Web: www.au.int |Addis Ababa | Ethiopia

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ROUNDTABLE ON INTRA-REGIONAL MIGRATION AND LABOUR MOBILITY WITHIN AFRICA
JOINT PRESS RELEASE

The Roundtable on intra-regional migration and labour mobility in Africa kicked off today urging member States to focus on migration for better integration and inclusive development of the continent

KIGALI, 23 March 2015- The Roundtable on intra-regional migration and labour mobility within Africa kicked off today, 23rd March 2015 in Kigali, Rwanda. This joint initiative is held under the theme “Enhancing capacities of RECs and member States to facilitate Intra-Regional Migration and Labour Mobility for Regional Integration and Economic Cooperation”. In her statement as Chair of the opening ceremony, Treasure Thembisile Maphanga, Director of Trade and Industry at the African Union Commission (AUC), recalled the vision of the Abuja Treaty of an African Economic Community with free movement of persons, goods, services and capital. She highlighted a number of policy initiatives on Migration and Labour Mobility that have been adopted by the AUC, including the Migration Policy Framework for Africa; Minimum Integration Programme and Action Plan for Boosting intra African Trade (BIAT). The launching of the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) by June 2015 is a great opportunity for the continent in the sense of the revitalization of Labour mobility.

Speaking on behalf of the African Union Commission, Dr. Khabele Matlosa, AUC Director of Political Affairs underscored the fact that historically, Africa is a region of migrants. Indeed, “the development and regional integration story of Africa is essentially the story of internal (intra-state) and external (inter-state) migration patterns”, he said. However, for migration to be a catalyst of regional integration and economic cooperation in Africa, “it is imperative that the African Union develops a Protocol on free Movement of persons, the Right of Residence and the Right of establishment as provided for in Article 43 of the 1991 Abuja Treaty”, he concluded.

H.E. Ambassador Sammie Pesky Eddico, Chairman of the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) Council and Ghana Permanent representative to the UN in Geneva pointed out that migration forms an integral part of the economic development process in Africa. The experiences of ECOWAS and EAC economic communities testify that free movement of persons and goods have positive effects on economic development, and called on Member States to ratify existing regional instruments on free movement. He underscored the need for the AU Assembly to encourage member states that are yet to ratify the existing protocols on free movement of persons to do within a specific timeline. He also proposed that the ratification of protocols on free movement of persons be considered with the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) Regional Director for Africa, represented by Mr. Alexio Musindo, ILO Director Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda focused on Labour Migration as a core component of the ILO’s mandate for social justice. Accordingly, this meeting provides an excellent opportunity for Africa to address key labour migration issues including promoting regional social dialogue on labour migration, strengthening institutional capacity to improve labour migration governance as well as the portability of social security benefits. He reiterated his commitment to continue to champion the exemplary AUC/ILO/IOM/ECA Joint Labour Migration Programme. He took also the opportunity to urge African states on Member states to ratify ILO conventions N0 97 and 143 on the protection of migrant workers and the governance of labour migration.

In the same view, the Director General of IOM, Amb. William Lacy Swing, emphasised on the necessity for this roundtable to demystify the “myth” or “fear factor” about facilitating free movement of people within the continent. It is in that regard that he proposed the Paradigm of the 3Ps in order to protect, promote and prioritize migration and mobility as powerful drivers of sustainable development in Africa. “But above all, you have a fundamental role in promoting human rights of migrants and the fact that the respect of rights needs to take a central stage, both as end and as condition, for harnessing the benefits of migration for the development of migrants and societies.”, he recalled to the participants.

The representative of the EU delegation to Rwanda, H.E Ambassador Michael Ryan, welcomed the adoption of the Joint Labour Migration Programme and underscored the willingness of EU to assist Africa for a better governance framework on migration.
Mr Silvio Fluckiger, Deputy regional Director of Swiss Cooperation declared that meeting should be a turning point in changing perceptions on migration issues. Indeed, “Migrants cannot simply be viewed as economic commodities to address labour market gaps or demographic needs. Migration is about both, economic and human development.”, He noticed.

Officially opening the ceremony, Hon Venantia Tugireyezu, Minister in the Office of the President of Rwanda, underlined the urgency to fast track different projects facilitating regional integration. The meeting represents therefore an opportunity to identify mechanisms in order to address different challenges in this regard.
The opening ceremony ended with a presentation of the Labour Migration Governance for Development and Integration in Africa Initiative (commonly referred to as the Joint Labour Migration Programme) by Mrs Cynthia Samuel-Olonjuwon, UN CO-Chair of the Employment and Labour Cluster. The Joint Labour Migration Programme aims to strengthen effective governance and regulation of labour migration and mobility in Africa under the rule of law with involvement of stakeholders; including the employers of labour, organisation of workers and migrants. She emphasised that the JLMP constitutes a major contribution to obtaining the development potential of labour and skills mobility in Africa for migrants as well as receiving and sending countries

It is worth recalling that this meeting is a joint initiative of the AUC/ILO/IOM/ECA. The main objective is to improve the awareness and understanding of the benefits that migration and labour mobility bring to countries of origin, transit and destination as well as migrants themselves.
For more information, please contact:
- Philip Bob JUSU |Migration Officer| Department of Social Affairs| Tel: +251115182216 /+250783810727 E-mail: Jusup@africa-union.org
- Jerry Laurence Lemogo| Directorate of Information and Communication | African Union Commission | Tel: +251929188440 | E-mail: Laurencej@africa-union.org
- Cynthia Samuel-Olonjuwon, Chief of regional Programming Unit, International Labour Organisation, Email: Samuel-olonjuwon@ilo.org, Tel: +251115445545
- Guebray Berhane, Senior Communications Officer, ILO Regional Office Email: Berhane@ilo.org
- Josiah OGINA, Chief of Mission-Ethiopia and Representative to AU/ECA/IGAD, Email: jogina@iom.int, Tel: +251116611133