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 Mr. 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. 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. During the Conference of the Parties (COP28), it was announced that the size of the fund would be increased from $100 million to $500 million, and ambitious goals were announced, namely the complete eradication of the two diseases from the African continent. The meeting included a review of the progress achieved by the “Agricultural Innovation Partnership,” It is an initiative launched by the UAE with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to advance climate efforts and strengthen food systems. Since its launch, this partnership has contributed to supporting many priority projects for both the UAE and the Gates Foundation, the most prominent of which is harnessing the power of artificial intelligence and technology to address the challenges of agriculture and food systems, by developing advanced solutions, for example, advanced systems for monitoring weather conditions and disseminating weather information. Weather conditions help millions of farmers around the world cope with the consequences of climate change. The partnership included supporting other initiatives related to agriculture, such as the “Red Palm Weevil Consortium,” which aims to create an alliance of international organizations, governments, the private sector and local stakeholders, to work sustainably to combat one of the agricultural pests that represents a tangible threat to palm trees around the world. . During the meeting, Gates praised the results of cooperation between his foundation and the United Arab Emirates over the past decade, and expressed his appreciation for the country’s efforts to improve the lives of the most vulnerable groups around the world.
ظهرت في الأصل على www.aletihad.ae